multi-scale 3D visualization

Modeling and Automated Storytelling of Mesoscale Molecular Models

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KAUST

In my talk, I will present techniques that allow biologists to model a mesocale entity in a rapid way in the timeframe of a few minutes to hours. This way we have created the first complete atomistic model of the SARS-CoV-2 virion that we are these days sharing with the worldwide scientific community. Mesoscale represents a scalar gap that is currently not possible to accurately image with neither microscopy nor X-ray crystallography approaches. For this purpose, scientists characterize it by observations from the surrounding nanoscale and the microscale. From this information, it is possible to reconstruct a three-dimensional model of a biological entity with a full atomistic model. The problem is that these models are enormously large and are not possible to model with traditional methods from computer graphics within a reasonable time.

Making the invisible, visible

1 min read ·
As bioscience and medicine progress, we are now able to live with diseases, which were once a death sentence. And we are rapidly discovering new interactions at the microscopic level that give us insight into the engines of life. However, as research gets more complicated, the layperson gets left further and further behind. Even those who trust the work of scientists can feel overwhelmed when attempting to read the latest research.

Ivan Viola

Professor, Computer Science
Professor Viola’s expertise lies in scientific visualization and visual computing. His research focuses on multiscale visualization and modeling of complex biological systems, ranging from cellular organisms to atomistic-level details.