Throughout December I made 24 BRAND NEW, daily protein renders for #ArtAdventCalendar, developing some new techniques and pipelines. I learnt a lot about #Blender, #MolecularNodes and compositing along the way! See them all here: e-nox.net/molecular-ad... #SciArt

A quick write up about the poster I presented at last year's #VIZBI 2025, showing a series of protein renders from experiments learning to use #Blender and #MolecularNodes. Excited for #VIZBI 2026!!! "Molecular Masterpieces - A Fashion Show of Protein Glow-ups" e-nox.net/vizbi-molecu... #SciArt

This is the "SEA SHEEP" (Costasiella kuroshimae) & it took the old axiom: "you are what you eat" VERY literally. It eats algae & rather than just digest them, it harvests the chloroplasts & becomes PHOTOSYNTHETIC. Solar slug! Also, some of its cousins can rip their own heads off.

🌟 Merry Christmas from a newborn star. Earlier this year the NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope took this stunning image of HH30, an edge-on protoplanetary disc. 🧪🔭 🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_investigates_a_dusty_and_dynamic_disc

Day 24 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar The nuclear pore complex is a huge pore made of hundreds of proteins, that allows the flow of nucleic acids and proteins between the nucleus and cytoplasm. It also looks like a wreath! Merry Christmas! More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 23 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar A urea channel from helicobacter pylori, a bacterium which can survive stomach acid. This channel allows urea to flow into the bacterium, neutralising any stomach acid that would otherwise damage it. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 22 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar Aspartate transcarbamoylase is a crucial allosteric enzyme, catalysing the first step in pyrimidine ring biosynthesis, which are used to build the bases in RNA and DNA. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 21 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This shows six zinc fingers bound to a section of DNA, which helps to stabilise it. The zinc fingers are used to control transcription of the gene for ribosomal RNA. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 20 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is a TAL effector, a modular protein from bacteria that can read the sequence of bases in DNA. Scientists have harnessed it to target gene knockouts, or insert new genes. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 19 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is the measles virus nucleocapsid, which is a helical complex formed around its RNA genome to protect it from cellular enzymes More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 18 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is a Piezo1 mechanosensitive channel. Piezo proteins help our cells gain a sense of touch - physical forces/pressures open up the channel, allowing ions to flow into the cell, triggering its response More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

What's on your list this year?

When you are cool as hell and you know it:

Behind the scenes....

Day 17 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is a coronavirus protease, an essential part of the virus' war chest, cutting its RNA into correct pieces, and interfering with the cell's defence mechanisms. So brutal, but at least it's ❤️-shaped More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 16 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar These are secretory antibodies, which defend mucosal linings in the body. They contain multiple arms, which bind to many sites on a pathogen, strengthening the interaction. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 15 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar The PhotoSystem II supercomplex in plants contains light-gathering antenna complexes (yellow). More antennas means better photosynthesis in low-light conditions (like the version shown with SIX antennas). More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 14 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar The equine encephalitis virus doesn't just affect horses, it's zoonotic and passes between animals & humans - being most prevalent circulating in bird species. It has 240 surface glycoproteins ready to go More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 13 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is the human apoptosome, which is part of the mechanism for cells to self-destruct when problems occur. Normally the sub-units float around harmlessly, but when danger calls, APOPTOSOME ASSEMBLE!!! More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 12 (I've made it halfway!!!) of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This earthworm haemoglobin (erythrocruorin), which is enormous compared with our own (144 chains cf. our measly 4 chains). More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.

Day 11 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This the Zika virus, which has an interesting repeating unit (five copies makes a starfish; and repeats twelve times). More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 10 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This the human papillomavirus, which attacks cells in skin and mucous membranes. It is usually harmless but very occasionally can cause cancer. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

“A way of doing something original is by trying something so painstaking that nobody else has ever bothered with it.” —Brian Eno

Day 9 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This the clover-shaped "Acetohydroxyacid Synthase", which is involved in synthesising three critical amino acids in plants - which is why it's targetted by herbicides. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 8 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar A resistosome is a molecular machine found in a plant's immune system, with unusual curved arms compared with imflammasome, the analogous complex in animals. It forms pores in infected cells & kills them. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 7 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is a malaria pump (PTEX), which pumps malaria effector proteins out of the parasite and into red blood cells, to help remodel their new home. (Nice for them; bad news for us) More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 6 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar This is a "nanodisc", which is a tiny section of lipid membrane, just big enough to hold a single membrane-bound protein, and holds the structure stable enough to probe its structure More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 5 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar Today it's HLA-A2, which is critical for the immune system. They present fragments of intra-cellular proteins to CD8+ T cells, which can initiate a targeted immune response. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

#JWST reveals unseen details of the "Mystic Mountain Monster" Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA, Judy Schmidt, PhotoshopTM 🔭🐡🧪

#MicroMas is growing nearer in my little lab! Join the microbial world in celebration! #MicrobialEnthusiasts #MicrobialCentricity #DontFearTheMicrobe @asmicrobiology @univpugetsound @MicrobeTV

Day 5 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar Today it's HLA-2, which is critical for the immune system. They present fragments of extra-cellular proteins to CD4+ T cells, which can initiate a targeted immune response. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

City skyline made from bolts, screws, nuts and staples. #ArtAdventCalendar

Day 4 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar Today it's AAA+ protease (surely the best of all proteases?) It has a protein pump to pull only the correct proteins into the central barrel, where they are destroyed. Maybe the AAA+ is their accuracy? More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 3 of making proteins for #ArtAdventCalendar Today I've been playing with Apolipoprotein B-100, which helps deliver fats. It wraps around a lipoprotein, and as cells extract triglycerides for energy, it shrinks and ApoB100's belts shrink to fit More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

Day 2 of #ArtAdventCalendar Today's new protein is Arc, a protein found in the brain, which can form icosahedral capsids (like viruses) containing its Arc mRNA cargo. They are linked to regulation of synaptic plasticity and forming long-term memories. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

It's time for #ArtAdventCalendar! Going to try to make a new protein render each day. Today is FOXP3, which is involved in controlling the expression of numerous genes. Here shows as a domain-swapped dimer that is able to bridge two(!) strands of DNA. More projects: e-nox.net/portfolio/ #SciArt

"How do I find my art style?" I've been a creative pro for 10 years, this is the number 1 question I get. They want creative work to be recognizably theirs in an instant-- like Miyazaki or Wes Anderson movies. This is the formula for art style, it's much simpler than you think.

HydroGNSS launches TODAY 6.18pm UK, built by SSTL to measure our water cycle, land use, wetlands, permafrost & carbon storage, via reflected GPS signals. The mission animation we made: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn68... Insights on our technical setup: e-nox.net/simulating-d... #ESA #hydrognss #sstl

WOAH just seeing this #SciArt summit- looks amazing! cc #SciComm

Mutable Explorer. For Magic the Gathering-Lorwyn Eclipsed Artwork sized "11.5. x "16.5 / 29cm x 41cm. Acrylic on artboard. Publishing copyright; Wizards of the Coast. Art editor Deborah Garcia.

We're hosting co-working and discussion sessions for scientific illustrators, where participants get to exchange their experiences and opinions on freelance work life and the industry. In the spirit of Halloween, the topic for the next session will be: Clients from Hell. tiny.cc/zfzs001 #svcs

I got my stamps!

Nice to see our illustration of Solar Orbiter out in the wild!

I love this piece by @jordancollver.bsky.social It’s part of a SciComm paper on the tools of storytelling I was lucky enough to get an early look at. I think it really sums up a lot of JC’s approach to art, science, belief, humanity and communication from the cave to the cosmos! So much to unpack

I found one of my academic papers in here (from a previous life when I was a scientist), so I've added my name to the list. Clearly it's a US lawsuit, but you can still join from other countries. Let's hope there is similar legal progress for my artworks that were hoovered up 🤞

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details: LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a... Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au... (This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)