Ten Simple Rules for Creating Biomolecular Graphics

Abstract

One need only compare the number of three-dimensional molecular illustrations in the first (1990) and third (2004) editions of Voet & Voet's "Biochemistry" in order to appreciate this field's profound communicative value in modern biological sciences -- ranging from medicine, physiology, and cell biology, to pharmaceutical chemistry and drug design, to structural and computational biology. The cliché about a picture being worth a thousand words is quite poignant here: The information 'content' of an effectively-constructed piece of molecular graphics can be immense. Because biological function arises from structure, it is difficult to overemphasize the utility of visualization and graphics in molding our current understanding of the molecular nature of biological systems. Nevertheless, creating effective molecular graphics is not easy -- neither conceptually, nor in terms of effort required. The present collection of Rules is meant as a guide for those embarking upon their first molecular illustrations.

3 pages, 0 figures; see also the full-length article in PLoS Computational Biology (cited below)

References in corpus (2)

• Ten Simple Rules for Creating Biomolecular Graphics
• Molecular Dynamics of a kB DNA Element: Base Flipping via Cross-strand Intercalative Stacking in a Microsecond-scale Simulation

Cited by in corpus (7)

• An Introduction to Programming for Bioscientists: A Python-based Primer
• Ten Simple Rules for Creating Biomolecular Graphics
• Known Structure, Unknown Function: An Inquiry-based Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory Course
• PlayMolecule Viewer: a toolkit for the visualization of molecules and other data
• Structural biology meets data science: Does anything change?
• Ten Quick Tips for Using a Raspberry Pi
• Understanding the Results of Electrostatics Calculations: Visualizing Molecular 'Isopotential' Surfaces