ABI Innovation: Building and sharing molecular visualizations with Molecular ViewBook

哈佛大学获得了一项资助，用于开发新的软件工具，使研究人员能够创建和共享分子过程的准确和动态的可视化分子模型。随着我们对分子机制的复杂性和动态性有了更深入的了解，对合成各种分子和细胞数据的建模工具的需求变得更加迫切。3D动画软件为这种需求提供了一个有吸引力的解决方案，但由于大多数3D图形应用程序的陡峭学习曲线，只有少数研究人员采用了3D动画软件。该项目旨在使研究人员能够创建他们所研究的分子过程的动态可视化，并与研究和教育社区的其他人分享这些可视化。Molecular ViewBook项目分为两个主要部分。首先是3D分子工具包，这是一套免费的软件工具，允许用户在观看简短的教程后，在一个开源的动画软件包中开始创建分子动画。3D分子工具包将包括涵盖分子动画各个方面的模块，包括易于使用的工具来导入和操作结构数据，在蛋白质模型中创建构象变化，并动态构建高阶分子结构。第二个组件是Molecular ViewBook网站（http://MolecularViewbook.org），这是一个使用户能够与其他人分享动画和动画源代码的门户网站。从Molecular ViewBook网站上，用户可以搜索其他用户创建的分子动画，并修改这些动画以添加新的组件。分子动画作为一种将复杂的分子机制传达给广泛受众的强大手段，越来越受到人们的认可和利用。在过去的几年里，我们目睹了研究人员对能够创建动画的巨大而迅速增长的兴趣。为了帮助传播分子观书，这些研究人员将为研究人员举办地方和国家研讨会。他们还将推出一个教育门户网站，针对高中和大学水平的生物教育者和学生，从而扩大我们的用户社区，超出研究社区的范围。

Harvard University is awarded a grant to develop new software tools that will allow researchers to create and share accurate and dynamic visual molecular models of molecular processes. As we gain a deeper understanding of the complexity and dynamics of molecular mechanisms, the need for modeling tools that will synthesize diverse molecular and cellular data becomes more urgent. 3D animation software offers an attractive solution to this need, but has been adopted by only a small number of researchers due to the steep learning curve for most 3D graphics applications. This project seeks to enable researchers to create dynamic visualizations of the molecular processes they study, and to share these visualizations with others in the research and educational communities. The Molecular ViewBook project is broken into two major components. First, the 3D Molecular Toolkit, a suite of free software tools that will allow users to start creating molecular animations in an open-source animation software package after viewing a short tutorial. The 3D Molecular Toolkit will include modules that cover all aspects of molecular animation, including easy-to-use tools to import and manipulate structural data, create conformational changes in protein models, and dynamically build higher-order molecular structures. The second component is the Molecular ViewBook website (http://MolecularViewbook.org), a portal which will enable users to share their animations and animation source codes with others. From the Molecular ViewBook website, users can search for molecular animations that other users have created, and modify these animations to add new components.Molecular animations are increasingly recognized and utilized as a powerful means to communicate complex molecular mechanisms to a wide variety of audiences. In the past several years, we have witnessed a large and rapidly growing interest amongst researchers to be able to create animations. To aid in the dissemination of the Molecular ViewBook, these investigators will conduct local and national workshops for researchers. They will also introduce an Educational Portal that will target biology educators and students at the high school and college levels, thereby expanding our user community beyond the scope of the research community.