Newsletter | Spring 2017 ⋅ Number 73

Outreach and Education

Video stills of three HIV enzymes are among the 2016 Winners of FASEB's BioArt Competition. This year’s 10 winning images and three videos represent a wide range of research in the biomedical and life sciences, from technology that may aid in recovery from spinal cord injury to a portrait of the New York City skyline “printed” in yeast.

Winning entries were unveiled on FASEB’s website and exhibited at the National Institutes of Health.

The stills are from PDB-101’s molecular animation A Molecular View of HIV Therapy.

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News recently highlighted PDB-101 as Best of the Web, recognizing the website's beautiful protein structures and wealth of educational resources.

PDB-101 is an online portal developed by RCSB PDB for teachers, students, and the general public to promote exploration in the world of proteins and nucleic acids. PDB-101 features support learning about the diverse shapes and functions of these biological macromolecules and their relationship to biomedicine and agriculture, from protein synthesis to health and disease to biological energy.

For the fourth year, RCSB PDB invites high school students across the USA to create short videos that tell a molecular story of health and disease. This year’s focus is the Molecular View of Diabetes Treatment and Management. To get started, teams are encouraged to use PDB-101 resources related to diabetes, diabetes treatments, and molecular visualization.

Videos may be submitted from March 7, 2017– May 22, 2017. Award winners will be announced on June 13, 2017.

For more information, sign up for the Video Challenge Monthly Newsletter and visit the challenge webpage at PDB-101.

Zika virus infects people around the globe. For most, the virus causes a mild illness that is quickly fought off by the immune system. But a connection between Zika infection in pregnant women and birth defects has underscored the need to find ways to fight the disease. Zika is spread by mosquitos, so our primary defense is to remove breeding sites and to take measures to avoid being bitten. There are a few examples of the Zika virus and related structures available in the PDB archive. Public availability of these atomic coordinates to medical researchers worldwide will accelerate new antiviral drug and vaccine development.

To build paper models of the Zika virus, download and print the template PDFs (Zika Virus/5ire and Zika Virus with antibodies/5h37).

Build a paper model of Zika virus (PDB entry 5ire) Paper model of Zika virus with neutralizing antibodies (PDB entry 5h37)
Cut out the structure along the dashed lines, and fold along the solid lines. Then tape or glue the flaps into place to form the viral icosahedron.