MASTER'S
RESEARCH PROJECT
CREATION OF AN EDUCATIONAL 3D BIOMEDICAL ANIMATION & CINEMATIC DESIGN
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felixvis.com
Written, directed, and animated by Felix Donghwi Son ©2019
Supervised by Jodie Jenkinson (ScienceVis lab),
instructed by Marc Dryer, Gaël McGill, and Susan Keen
RESEARCH
BACKGROUND
BEHIND STORY
The ability to move is a key aspect of evolution for communication and survival by living organisms. Most motile cells rely on a dynamic system of actin skeleton for locomotion.
Actin is the most plentiful and highly conserved protein in most eukaryotic cells (Dominguez & Holmes, 2011). It participates in more protein-protein interactions than any other known proteins (Dominguez & Holmes, 2011). This property makes actin a crucial player in a large range of cellular processes, ranging from the maintenance of cell morphology to the establishment of polarity, especially in cell motility (Dominguez & Holmes, 2011).
The machinery of the cell shape changes and motility rely on the continuous assembly and disassembly of different architectures of actin skeleton (Blanchoin et al., 2014). These complex processes are controlled by the dynamic interaction of actin and actin-binding proteins in order to achieve cell motility (Svitkina, 2018).
COMMUNICATION GAP
Though It is important to understand these concepts for those studying cell biology, undergraduate cell biology students have difficulties in gaining a comprehensive understanding of actin structures and the processes of cell movement due to the complexity of the topic.
- For example, ① this biological concept involves hundreds of Actin-Binding Proteins (ABP), as well as other intracellular and extracellular factors (Blanchoin et al., 2014). ② There are many stages involved such as assembly, disassembly, and remolding of actin structures.
- ③ Many of the challenges in molecular life science education are linked to the interdisciplinarity of the field, bridging cell biology, chemistry, and mathematics. This requires a much more integrated understanding of complex biological concepts (Jenkinson, 2012). ④ Due to the lecture-based nature of the educational environment and the limitation of existing supplementary visual resources, the students’ understanding on cell movement is limited.
PRIMARY AUDIENCE
Undergraduate cell biology students.
PRIMARY GOALS
This research primarily attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in undergraduate cell biology students’ understanding of key biological concepts.
01
The fundamental characteristics of actin cytoskeleton in cell movement.
02
The underlying principles, and mechanism regulating the dynamics of actin architecture .
For my master’s research project, I propose
to develop an educational 3D animation
on the role of actin in cell motility
as a supplementary visual learning resource
for undergraduate cell biology students.
2018 July
Research Proposal
COMMITTEE
Supervisor
Jodie Jenkinson
MScBMC, PhD, FAMI
Director of MScBMC
& Associate professor
University of Toronto
2nd Voting Member
Marc Dryer
MSc, MScBMC
Associate Chair of Biology
& Associate professor
University of Toronto
Visualization Expert
Gaël McGill
PhD
Director of Molecular Visualization
Founder & CEO, Digizyme Inc.
Havard Medical School
Content Expert
Susan L. Keen
MSc, PhD
Professor of Teaching
Associate Dean (2012 -2018)
University of California Davis
PRE-PRODUCTION
02
SCRIPT
PRODUCTION &
POST-PRODUCTION
Example 01
Rapid elongation of
parallel Actin bundles
regulated by elongation factor, formin
Example 02
Complex network of
cytoskeletal fibers with Kinesin,
a motor protein on microtubule
RENDERING
- Autodesk Maya
(Solid Arnold)
09
MODELING
& RIGGING
- Autodesk Maya
- Pixologic Zbrush
- UCSF Chimera
06
SCENE DESIGN
- Autodesk Maya
07
PLAYBLAST
- Autodesk Maya
08
COMPOSITING
- Adobe After effects
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Premiere pro
10
Pre-production
Concept Sketches
Tissue environment
Crawling lymphocyte
Contractile Stress Fibers
Title shot
Cytoskeletal Network
Actin polymerization
Actin Branching
Mesh-like actin network
Parallel actin bundle
Post-production
Final Images