17-Jan-2002 Press Release
RUTGERS NEWS Office of Media Relations and Communications Contact: Joseph Blumberg 732/932-7084, extension 652 E-mail: blumberg@ur.rutgers.edu http://ur.rutgers.edu/medrel Jan. 17, 2002 EDITOR'S NOTE: ATTENTION ART, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ASSIGNMENT EDITORS, an image of protein-based art may be downloaded from http://ur.rutgers.edu/medrel/photos/art/protein-art.jpg. TO THE POINT: Rutgers presents art show based on protein images NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. - "The Art of Science - from the Protein Data Bank," an exhibit of artwork based on molecular structures, will open Monday (Jan. 21) at The Gallery in the Busch Campus Center, 604 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway. The exhibit is free and open to the public, as is a reception scheduled Wednesday (Jan. 23) from 4 to 6 p.m. "The exhibit looks at the beauty inherent in the three-dimensional structures of proteins," said Christine Zardecki, research assistant at the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and curator of the exhibit. "While these structures are smaller than the wavelength of light, they have a very strong visual component." The images presented are taken from the Protein Data Bank housed at Rutgers, one of the world's most critical resources for solving the mysteries of human disease and designing new pharmaceutical drugs as cures. The PDB is an Internet-accessible atlas of 3-D models of biological structures determined by scientists using the most modern experimental methods and managed by Board of Governors Professor Helen Berman. The images of the protein molecules were created by David S. Goodsell, assistant professor of molecular biology at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif., using computer visualization tools. The exhibit will be open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., and will run through Saturday, Feb. 9.