Outreach and Education

David Goodsell photo

David S. Goodsell

In July, David S. Goodsell (The Scripps Research Institute and Rutgers University) was honored with

  • The Carl Brändén Award from The Protein Society, which recognizes an outstanding protein scientist who has also made exceptional contributions in the areas of education and/or service.
  • The I. Fankuchen Award from the American Crystallographic Association, which recognizes contributions to crystallographic research by one who is known to be an effective teacher of crystallography

Throughout his career, David S. Goodsell has promoted and enabled effective teaching and learning of biochemistry and molecular biology and has inspired the public with his vision, his creativity, and his artistic genius.  HIs work drives the PDB-101 educational portal, particularly through the Molecule of the Month series, but also with his SciArt gallery, the Guide to Understanding PDB Data, and many, many other projects that have inspired students and teachers of all ages.

Sign up for the Molecule of the Month newsletter for regular updates on the series and related information on PDB-101 and David Goodsell.

Follow David on Twitter: @dsgoodsell

A painting by David S. Goodsell illustrates a cross-section through an Escherichia coli cell. The image is available for download from the Molecular Landscapes SciArt Gallery.

A new detailed key of the molecules that are depicted in the illustration and information on scientific sources for the structures is now available (PDF).

Goodsell's molecular landscapes are available from PDB-101 in a special SciArt Digital Archive. These watercolor paintings integrate information from structural biology, microscopy and biophysics to simulate detailed views of the molecular structure of living cells. These illustrations are free for use under CC-BY-4.0 license. Acknowledgement should be given as indicated for each illustration.

E coli painting with legend

Illustration by David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-028

The Biologist coloring page

The Biologist magazine hosts the Big Biochemical Colouring-in Series to invite readers to get artistic while learning about some of the life sciences’ most important and interesting macromolecules.

The latest feature on Polysome has been published and made available at PDB-101.

Download, color, and share your creations on social media and tag RCSB PDB and Royal Society of Biology on Twitter and Royal Society of Biology on Instagram.

The Biologist is published four times a year by the Royal Society of Biology.
Many thanks to the Royal Society of Biology for sharing these pages with PDB-101.

PDB-101 hosts a collection of molecular-themed coloring books.

Akua K. Donkor photo

Akua K. Donkor

At this year's meeting of ACA: The Structural Science Society, the RCSB PDB Poster Prize award went to Akua Donkor.

Understanding the role of pyridoxal reductase (PDXI) in pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) homeostasis
Akua K. Donkor (1), Mohini S. Ghatge (1), Faik N. Musayev (1), Valerie de Crecy-Lagard (2), Roberto Contestabile (3), Martino Di Salvo (3), Martin K. Safo (1)
1) Virginia Commonwealth University; 2) University of Florida; 3) Sapienza University of Rome

Many thanks to the judges and to ACA.

Nicola Bordin and his poster

Nicola Bordin and his poster

At this year's Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference, the RCSB PDB Poster Prize award went to Nicola Bordin.

AlphaFold2 reveals commonalities and novelties in protein structure space for 21 model organisms
Nicola Bordin, University College London

Many thanks to judges Sebastian Bittrich and Dennis Piehl (RCSB PDB) and to Steven Leard (ISMB) for his continued support.