Pixar Software Could Help Simulate Molecular Interactions

An animation tool used by Pixar and other Hollywood studios could prove to be highly beneficial to biologist in simulating molecular interactions and dynamics (link open for free only for a limited time).

Many scientists already use an array of software to visualize proteins in three dimensions, but these programs do not show how proteins behave in their cellular context. For that, scientific animators turn to Maya — the same program Pixar and other Hollywood firms rely on. But getting the scientific data into the platform is a major roadblock, says Gaël McGill, chief executive of Digizyme, who teaches molecular visualization at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "It's the most common question we have: Can we embellish Maya so that it's easier for scientists to bring the data in?"

I'd say that this is another possibility for inclusion in Innoventions at Epcot. There's an attraction here waiting to happen.

Zz.