http://www.apple.com/science/insidetheimage/rob_lue/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Life_of_the_CellThe mesmerizing “Inner Life of a Cell” is an
animation showing a number of intra-cellular processes. It
was created for educational purposes, but recently it has
also gotten international attention, beyond the Harvard
undergraduate classrooms for which it was initially
intended. It exemplifies what science education is painfully
lacking— stunning and accessible visual representations
portraying the very essence of what science is all about.
Robert Lue, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology was
instrumental in its production. Here we have a brief
conversation. — Felice Frankel
Rob, tell us what was inspired you to get you thinking about
this approach to conveying this amazing stuff going on in
the cell? To a significant degree, the inspiration came from
my experiences as a cell biologist seeking to tie together
the molecular details of how individual proteins function in
the context of the living cell. This process of synthesis
lies at the heart of cell biology, and when you consider the
critical role that visualizing cells in the microscope
played in the birth of the field, bringing the two together
in a 21st
Century manner made perfect sense. Cell biologists are
intimately aware that seeing something is often the first
step to deeply understanding it. Furthermore, the creation
of visual models is a standard part of developing and
challenging hypotheses. Whenever I engage an idea in
biology, the process always includes the creation of visual
models in my head. Thus, for more than twenty years I have
wanted to visualize cellular processes but until now have
never had access to the tools to even begin to bring such
mental images to life.
The sense of urgency around the need to harness today's
visualization tools in the service of biology is sharpened
by the struggle to bring molecular perspectives on biology
home to students at both the high school and college level.
Can you talk to us a little about the process of working
with the animators? The development of each animation is a
sustained collaborative effort on several fronts. On the one
hand, you have scientists and educators with deep knowledge
of both the science and what fundamental concepts need to be
communicated, and on the other you have animators and
programmers with mastery of the software tools and the
visual idiom.
Bringing these two groups together is an essential part of
the process and requires a commitment on both sides to a
collaborative effort. This begins with the creation of
detailed story boards based on the relevant scientific
literature and with a particular pedagogical goal in mind.
The initial storyboard serves as a framework that
facilitates synthesis of multiple scientific models of how
individual components function into a coherent sequence of
events that takes into consideration the cellular context
and the element of time. Using this framework, the
scientists take the first step in "imagining" a visual
representation that transforms a hypothesis written in words
into moving images with the power to communicate.
The initial story board is then fully developed through
close collaboration with the animators. In a highly
iterative process, the visual narrative is further developed
in light of their input on the available animation tools and
effects, and fully informed by their expertise on effective
visual storytelling. Continued dialogue with the scientists
at every step is essential. This ongoing dialogue transforms
and molds the animation during development as scenes and
players are revised to take into account available
scientific data as well as what constitutes visual clarity.
Indeed the constraints imposed by the need for coherence
both in visual and spatial terms forces us to challenge
traditional modes of representation and makes for an
exciting development process.
We have a sense of the fantastic response from the public.
Would you say it's the same from the researchers in the
field? I am happy to say that the response from researchers
in the field has also been overwhelmingly positive. Of the
many hundreds of requests we have received to use the
animation, roughly a third come from research scientists and
professors of biology and chemistry. Researchers from
several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have
requested our permission to use the animation in
presentations ranging from award ceremonies to high school
outreach programs. We have also received many requests from
researchers interested in using the animation in talks at
scientific meetings and in their undergraduate courses. In
fact, one of the frustrating aspects of the project is that
we have received many requests from researchers interested
in collaborating on animations relating to their own work,
but simply don't have the resources to work with all of
them. Thus, we have a waiting list of researchers ready to
collaborate on future Biovisions animations. This speaks to
the power of visualization, not only in teaching but also in
the realm of communicating ideas between scientists.
Do we know how true to life are these animations are? Has
there been some artistic freedom used in visualizing Lipid
Rafts or Micro Tubules. Every scene in the animation is true
to a key aspect of our current understanding of the
biology portrayed in that scene. That said,decisions are
made as to what concept should be emphasized, which
ultimately drives the nature of the visual expression. This
allows for artistic freedom, but it is a freedom constrained
by what we are trying to communicate; it is not artistic
freedom driven by say some abstract conception of beauty. In
the case of the lipid rafts, the visual representation is
meant to illustrate the relative homogeneity and cohesion of
raft components in comparison to the surrounding membrane,
while simultaneously illustrating the greater thickness of
the rafts as well. The range of colors represents the
diversity and relative abundance of each lipid component,
while the overall choice of palette is clearly an aesthetic
one. In the case of the microtubules, the individual tubulin
components are shown with their correct three-dimensional
shapes based on protein structure analysis, and the overall
organization of each microtubule is based on high resolution
electron microscopic images. On the other hand, the color,
surface rendering, and lighting are all clearly based on
aesthetics.
