Ecce Homology’s novel
calligraphic gene visualization incorporates
intricate, non-alphabet forms for scientific
visualization inspired by the traditions
of Chinese and Sanskrit calligraphy, pictographic
writing systems and the relationship between
structure and function in biological molecules.
Custom software turns genes – long
strings of As, Cs, Ts and Gs – into
luminous pictograms that resemble Chinese
or Sanskrit calligraphy. Based on currently
available biophysical information, the
pictograms are scientifically accurate
representations of proteins encoded for
by the genes.
The
figure to the right shows a comparison of
(1) the standard solved PDB structure for
human amylase alpha 1A; salivary protein,
(2) the same protein visualized as a pictograph
with Ecce Homology's genomic calligraphy system,
and (3) the pictograph for the rice amylase
protein.
The
pictographs are created by using genomic and
protein data to drive a virtual calligraphic
brush. The stroke placement, shape and brush
quality for each pictograph is determined
by the physical and chemical properties of
its nucleotide and amino acid sequences.
