Outreach and Education

Two PDB-101 images have been selected as national finalists in the 2021 Wiki Science Competition in the United States. The jury selected 42 finalists across six categories from 391 submissions. These images represent the United States at the international level.

• Molecular view of glutamatergic synapse by Maria Voigt is a still image from the Opioids and Pain Signaling video
• Respiratory droplet with SARS-CoV-2 by David Goodsell is a painting in the Molecular Landscapes SciArt collection

These images, some of PDB-101's award-winning creations, are also available for download as part of the Poster Collection.

Subscribe to a new electronic newsletter that will send alerts when new Molecule of the Month features are available.

Created and illustrated by David S. Goodsell (RCSB PDB-Rutgers and The Scripps Research Institute) since January 2000, the Molecule of the Month series tells stories about molecular structure and function, their diverse roles within living cells, and the growing connections between biology and nanotechnology. The growth and popularity of the column led to the development of the PDB-101 educational website. Molecule of the Month content has inspired readers around the world, and is a regular read for students and researchers alike. Columns are so compelling that they have been accessed >1 million times in 2021.

David S. Goodsell, Christine Zardecki, Helen M. Berman, Stephen K. Burley. (2020) Insights from 20 years of the Molecule of the Month. BAMBed 48: 350-355 doi:10.1002/bmb.21360

This image shows a 3D model of an entire Mycoplasma genitalium cell. This snapshot represents a Mycoplasma cell at the beginning of its life cycle. Cell shape has been approximated to a sphere with a radius of ~145nm. Each protein is represented by a 3D structure coming from either homology modeling, a previous model of mycoplasma cytoplasm, experimental data, or homologs from the Protein Data Bank. The nucleoid structure was modeled with LatticeNucleoid. Small molecules, ions, and water are not shown in the illustration, and would fill the spaces between the macromolecules.

This model is part of PDB-101's SciArt gallery of Molecular Landscapes by David S. Goodsell.

For detailed descriptions of the data curation, model building, and visualization methods, see:
Building Structural Models of a Whole Mycoplasma Cell
(2022) Journal of Molecular Graphics 434: 167351 doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167351.

In 2022, the students are challenged to tell stories about the Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer.

Videos can be submitted between until April 25, 2022 at 11:59 pm PST. The resources for students are available on PDB-101. To receive news and updates about new resources and important dates, please subscribe to the video challenge newsletter.

JCVI-syn3A is a minimal cell developed at the J. Craig Venter Institute for exploring the central processes needed for life.

The new illustration by David Goodsell integrates the experimental data to create a cross-section view through an entire JCVI-syn3A cell, showing all macromolecules. A PDF document is available for download with a detailed key of the molecules that are depicted in the illustration and information on scientific sources for the structures. A broader look appears in the article A Journey to the Center of Our Cells published in the March 7 issue of The New Yorker.

This illustration is part of PDB-101's SciArt gallery of Molecular Landscapes by David S. Goodsell.