Virus trading cards, animated and 3D-printable

Cory Doctorow 10:42 am Wed Apr 13, 2016

Eleanor Lutz used files from the Protein Data Bank to model the molecules comprising the viruses that are the scourge of our human race.

The results, presented as "trading cards," aren't just beautiful and informative, they're also printable: you can use the files' representations in UCSF Chimera, the molecular modelling program she used, to create STL files you can feed to your 3D printer.

This week I made a set of virus trading cards! Viruses are surprisingly symmetrical, and I love them because they remind me of a biological version of snowflakes. Each trading card shows you the structure of the viral capsid – the protein shell protecting the genetic material inside a virus.

Virus trading cards
[Eleanor Lutz/Tabletop Whale]

3-D Models made with Chimera

[UCSF]

(via Kottke)

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