Computational Biology — USC World Building Lab
Computational Biology — USC World Building Lab
World in a Cell re-examines how we scientifically depict protein structure — and teaches it in virtual reality.
Why it matters: the method didn't stay an art project. It became a published paper and a patent in scientific visualization.
The work produced
Standard protein renderings are data plots — accurate, unreadable. The lab asked: what if a protein were designed like a world?
The answer became a VR app that lets anyone walk the cell and learn its machinery.
Shaoyu Su and I built the working prototype. Python parses the .cif file from the Protein Data Bank and plots its cartesian data in Houdini.
Then a genetic algorithm equalizes the coordinates into perfect tetrahedral geometry — measuring deviation and holding the fit inside an acceptable RMS variance. Real data, ideal form.
"Real data, rebuilt as perfect tetrahedral geometry — and the science held."
The methodology was published in Structure — "A New Visual Design Language for Biological Structures in a Cell," 30(4), 2022 — and we hold a share of the patent on the visualization method.
The system moved from Houdini into a Unity build for the interactive VR experience.
