The Biophysical Society's Annual Art of Science Image Contest took place this year during the 66th Annual Meeting in San Diego. The first place winning image was submitted by Behzad Mehrafrooz, a PhD student in the Aksimentiev Group at the University of Illinois. Mehrafrooz took some time to provide information about the image and the science it represents.
When it comes to explaining my research to other people, I believe nothing is handier than a carefully crafted illustrative image - as the adage goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." As a computational biophysicist, my research focuses on the structure and function of biological systems at atomistic level; and despite the significant advancements in technology, obtaining actual image of an atom remains a challenging task. However, recent advances in computational modeling and simulation have made it possible to obtain highly detailed images of atomic structures and interactions, providing invaluable insights into the biological systems at the atomic level that would be impossible obtain through experimental observation alone. Thus, my initial motivation for making this image was to effectively illustrate my research in a manner that is easy to comprehend.
The image shows our protein-based biomimetic fabric that enables both high vapor transport (breathability) and protective capacity. This research is a collaborative work lead by Manish Kumar and Hyeonji (Ji) Oh (at The University of Texas at Austin). Current protective materials reject harmful biological and chemical agents effectively, but their low water vapor permeability leads to heat stress in wearers. Membranes combining low liquid water transport with high solute exclusion as well as posing high water vapor transport rates seem to be impossible to construct. However, human skin accomplishes exactly that. Taking nature as the best teacher, we tried to make a bio-inspired membrane by emulating the structure and function of the human skin. Inspired by the structure of natural human skin, our membrane is made of a polyethersulfone polymer support (porous membrane in yellow), and multilayers of biomimetic membranes each consisting of block copolymer-suspended bacterial outer channels (blue cylinders) with the gaps between the patches of the channels sealed by means of polymerizable Diyne phosphatidyl-cholines lipid molecules (dark green). In our designed synthetic assembly, we used block copolymers as analogs of biological lipids and bacterial channel as selective water vapor “transporters”. High rate of water vapor transport (glowing yellow particles) occurs through individual channels, as in the sweat pores, while molecules or particles larger than the pore diameter are rejected. In experiments, we have achieved high protective capacity against a range of dye molecules and a model biological agents. This image was made using VMD and Blender.
Overall, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Prof. Aleksei Aksimentiev and our collaborators from the Kumar lab at the University of Texas at Austin, who provided valuable feedback on the image, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency that supported this study. I am also grateful to everyone who voted for my image. Looking forward to seeing everyone once again at a forthcoming BPS meeting!
I’m currently a PhD student at Aksimentiev group - you can read more on our lab page. You can also find me on LinkedIn.