TED2014
Janet Iwasa: How animations can help scientists test a hypothesis
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3D animation can bring scientific hypotheses to life. Molecular biologist (and TED Fellow) Janet Iwasa introduces a new open-source animation software designed just for scientists.
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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Take a look at this drawing.
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Can you tell what it is?
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I'm a molecular biologist by training,
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and I've seen a lot of these kinds of drawings.
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They're usually referred to as a model figure,
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a drawing that shows how we think
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a cellular or molecular process occurs.
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This particular drawing is of a process
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called clathrin-mediated endocytosis.
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It's a process by which a molecule can get
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from the outside of the cell to the inside
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by getting captured in a bubble or a vesicle
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that then gets internalized by the cell.
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There's a problem with this drawing, though,
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and it's mainly in what it doesn't show.
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From lots of experiments,
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from lots of different scientists,
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we know a lot about what these molecules look like,
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how they move around in the cell,
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and that this is all taking place
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in an incredibly dynamic environment.
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So in collaboration with a clathrin
expert Tomas Kirchhausen,
expert Tomas Kirchhausen,
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we decided to create a new kind of model figure
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that showed all of that.
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So we start outside of the cell.
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Now we're looking inside.
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Clathrin are these three-legged molecules
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that can self-assemble into soccer-ball-like shapes.
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Through connections with a membrane,
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clathrin is able to deform the membrane
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and form this sort of a cup
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that forms this sort of a bubble, or a vesicle,
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that's now capturing some of the proteins
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that were outside of the cell.
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Proteins are coming in now that
basically pinch off this vesicle,
basically pinch off this vesicle,
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making it separate from the rest of the membrane,
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and now clathrin is basically done with its job,
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and so proteins are coming in now —
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we've covered them yellow and orange —
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that are responsible for taking
apart this clathrin cage.
apart this clathrin cage.
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And so all of these proteins
can get basically recycled
can get basically recycled
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and used all over again.
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These processes are too small to be seen directly,
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even with the best microscopes,
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so animations like this provide a really powerful way
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of visualizing a hypothesis.
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Here's another illustration,
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and this is a drawing of how a researcher might think
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that the HIV virus gets into and out of cells.
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And again, this is a vast oversimplification
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and doesn't begin to show
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what we actually know about these processes.
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You might be surprised to know
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that these simple drawings are the only way
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that most biologists visualize
their molecular hypotheses.
their molecular hypotheses.
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Why?
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Because creating movies of processes
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as we think they actually occur is really hard.
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I spent months in Hollywood
learning 3D animation software,
learning 3D animation software,
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and I spend months on each animation,
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and that's just time that most
researchers can't afford.
researchers can't afford.
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The payoffs can be huge, though.
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Molecular animations are unparalleled
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in their ability to convey a great deal of information
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to broad audiences with extreme accuracy.
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And I'm working on a new project now
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called "The Science of HIV"
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where I'll be animating the entire life cycle
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of the HIV virus as accurately as possible
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and all in molecular detail.
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The animation will feature data
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from thousands of researchers
collected over decades,
collected over decades,
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data on what this virus looks like,
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how it's able to infect cells in our body,
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and how therapeutics are
helping to combat infection.
helping to combat infection.
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Over the years, I found that animations
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aren't just useful for communicating an idea,
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but they're also really useful
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for exploring a hypothesis.
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Biologists for the most part are
still using a paper and pencil
still using a paper and pencil
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to visualize the processes they study,
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and with the data we have now,
that's just not good enough anymore.
that's just not good enough anymore.
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The process of creating an animation
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can act as a catalyst that allows researchers
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to crystalize and refine their own ideas.
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One researcher I worked with
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who works on the molecular mechanisms
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of neurodegenerative diseases
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came up with experiments that were related
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directly to the animation that
she and I worked on together,
she and I worked on together,
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and in this way, animation can
feed back into the research process.
feed back into the research process.
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I believe that animation can change biology.
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It can change the way that we
communicate with one another,
communicate with one another,
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how we explore our data
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and how we teach our students.
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But for that change to happen,
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we need more researchers creating animations,
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and toward that end, I brought together a team
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of biologists, animators and programmers
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to create a new, free, open-source software —
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we call it Molecular Flipbook —
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that's created just for biologists
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just to create molecular animations.
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From our testing, we've found
that it only takes 15 minutes
that it only takes 15 minutes
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for a biologist who has never
touched animation software before
touched animation software before
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to create her first molecular animation
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of her own hypothesis.
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We're also building an online database
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where anyone can view, download and contribute
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their own animations.
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We're really excited to announce
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that the beta version of the molecular animation
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software toolkit will be available for download today.
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We are really excited to see
what biologists will create with it
what biologists will create with it
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and what new insights they're able to gain
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from finally being able to animate
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their own model figures.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Janet Iwasa - Molecular animatorWhy you should listen
While we know a lot about molecular processes, they can’t be observed directly, and scientists have to rely on simple, two-dimensional drawings to depict complex hypotheses. That is, they did until now. Janet Iwasa’s colorful and action-packed 3D animations bring scientific hypotheses to life, showing how we think molecules look, move and interact. Not only is molecular animation a powerful way to illustrate ideas and convey information to general audiences, it’s also a powerful tools for inspiring new research. However, 3D molecular animation using commercial software requires skill and time, so Iwasa has created a simpler 3D animation software tool for biologists, allowing researchers to intuitively and quickly model molecular hypotheses. In 2014, she launched the beta of her new free, open-source animation software, Molecular Flipbook, which allows biologists to create molecular animations of their own hypotheses in just 15 minutes.
More profile about the speakerJanet Iwasa | Speaker | TED.com