Multimedia Gallery
New tool for exploring cells
"CellPACK" software developed at The Scripps Research Institute can generate editable models of mid-sized biological structures, such as this one of HIV. The software will allow researchers to explore viruses, bacteria and components of the human body in more detail than ever before.
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Although scientists have developed techniques to study relatively large structures, such as cells, and very small structures, such as proteins, it has been harder to visualize structures in the medium “mesoscale” range.
With cellPACK, researchers can quickly and efficiently process the data they’ve collected on smaller structures to assemble models in this mid-size range. Previously, researchers had to create these models by hand, which took weeks or months compared with just hours in cellPACK.
The research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
Read more about this research in the Scripps news release TSRI scientists create new tool for exploring cells in 3-D. (Date image taken: 2010-2014; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Feb. 7, 2017)
Credit: Created by Graham Johnson (grahamj.com), University of California, San Francisco, with Ludovic Autin (mgl.scripps.edu), The Scripps Research Institute
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