the moment I stepped in to my
father-in-law scrapyard in Albuquerque
New Mexico this is an aerial view of
that scrapyard I felt as if I was inside
a living functional cell the type of
cell that makes up tissues and organs in
your body now I was inspired by how
similar this is to the work that I do
this was the moment that I realized I
can step outside my laboratory I have a
new approach to understand my work
specifically I’m a cell biologist and a
microscopist and as an instructor in
medicine
I teach undergraduates life sciences my
passion is to fully understand how cells
work because this determines how all
creatures including you thrive and die
and I want to share the significance of
cell biology with my students and my
peers one of my students created this
graphic art it demonstrates a true
connection between the arts and the
sciences I believe a captivating graphic
can stimulate the imagination so I
reached out to artists and I asked them
to illustrate my ideas about science and
my work and the process of communicating
these ideas to people who have seemingly
unrelated disciplines helped me
understand my work more Einstein said if
you can’t explain your idea to a
six-year-old then you don’t understand
it yourself my work requires the
expertise of using some of the most
powerful microscopes in the world this
is a picture of a microscope similar to
what I have them in my laboratory and
this is a one-of-a-kind state-of-the-art
microscope it allows us to see up to a
hundred times magnification and combines
with modern technology and chemistry
we’re able to visualize single molecules
single molecules I mean how cool is that
so I spend hours a day many hours a day
in a darkroom looking through the
oculars on a microscope studying cells
and what is inside them and importantly
I enjoy doing this so here’s a simple
example of one a microscope can do there
are three objects in this dish that are
barely detectable using the naked eye
but if we use a microscope with 40 times
magnification we’re able to see that
objects in the dish in great detail I
focus intensely on understanding how
molecules organize themselves and I
translate this organism this
organization to disease I work to
understand how patterns of molecules
result in disease and what I noticed is
something called bio symmetry which
simply means patterns in nature the
persistence of these patterns is
ubiquitous and sublime and having
written and published papers on
organization I began to see by symmetry
manifested outside the laboratory I’d be
at the market shopping for vegetables or
out for a jog along the beautiful
Charles River or in my garden and my
erine flowers and I see that Nature has
evolved and reproduced itself on many
levels in our plants animals trees and
in our skies and as a result of these
observations I became even more
motivated to explore patterns my goal it
was to become more open-minded much more
open-minded to counteract the tunnel
vision that can potentially coincide
with looking through the oculars so my
solution was to reach out to artists
collaborate with them explain them key
concepts to see what they can come up
with using their creativity talent and
inspiration
I believe collaborations let’s say
between an historian and a physicist or
a musician and an engineer would be
productive
for my collaboration with fine artists
has resulted in the following works of
art my experience in that scrapyard in
Albuquerque New Mexico we’re on a
micro-level
I’m studying cells looking through a
microscope and on a macro level I’m
standing in the desert as if I feel like
I’m inside of a cell this connection to
me was really illuminating so I wanted
an image something to reflect on to help
me think outside the cell or inside the
cell so I asked an artist to illustrate
this and this is this is the art so in
the upper right hand corner in a
scrapyard there’s a piece of machinery
called a shredder and it shreds metal
this is similar to what lysozymes do in
cells they shred unwanted material and
on the bottom of this art these train
cars are towing metal in and out of the
scrap yard
similar to what vesicles do in cells
transport proteins and molecules around
and in and out of a cell I asked another
artist to illustrate bio symmetry that
we see on many levels in our world this
represents a mirrored bio symmetry so on
the molecular level the geometrical
configuration of a lattice of frozen
water is similar to what you see in some
viruses and it’s similar to what we find
in nature in our honeycombs and you can
even find it in our skies and some
constellations and a different
configuration the spiral found in our
own DNA double helix it’s found in the
horns of bighorn sheep and it’s also
found on conch shells found on our
beaches and even in our cosmos in our
own Milky Way so the next time you go to
the market take a look in the vegetable
section and see if you can spot
Romanesco
it also has that same spiral geometrical
pattern and it’s delicious
I asked another artist to illustrate how
people may seem by Oh symmetry on a
micro and macro way but in a different
way so here dendritic cells and tree
dendritic cells and neurons look like
tree branches to each of these four
panels represent how neurons look like
trees and the perception of scale and
structure is defined by our own
experiences for example one may see
these tree branches looking from the
canopy down another may see it looking
from the ground up but all of these
observations in nature have enriched my
view of the world one of my students
asked me to further explain innate
immunity which is how the body defends
itself from pathogens or foreign
invaders and my favorite cell the
neutrophil is a type of white blood cell
that circulates in our bloodstream
waiting to be called upon to stop damage
so when the body is under a viral
infection or attack from bacteria or
even as a result of a splinter the
neutrophil is the cell the first one
there to the scene for damage control so
I asked an artist to illustrate this
concept so here the superhero
represents a neutrophil swimming amongst
other blood cells defending itself in
its environment from a foreign invader I
use this piece of art as a teaching tool
to initiate conversation which naturally
leads to questions being asked and in
the end everyone involved we all have a
better understanding of innate immunity
this last piece of art holds a special
place in my heart because it was the
first piece that I commissioned it
represents how the micro world is
connected to the macro world so in the
micro world we need a microscope to see
DNA in cells and viruses and it’s
connected to the macro world which we
need a telescope to see our planets and
stars through the Tree of Life and I use
this art to explain to my young children
how big but yet small our world is the
images and works of art that I’ve shown
you here today are examples of how an
artist can create a vision and this has
helped me stay open-minded I’ve learned
a way to boost my creativity a way to
think outside or inside the cell and
these imaginative and visual
collaborations have formed a bridge of
understanding a symbiotic relationship
between an artist and a scientist using
fine artists to illustrate scientific
ideas has made me a better communicator
a teacher a scientist and a thinker and
in a world where we are being asked to
narrow our views I believe we should
branch out and collaborate with those
who have seemingly unrelated disciplines
so I hope all of you here today leave
with a greater feeling of
interconnectedness appreciating bio
symmetry and the patterns of life all
around you
father-in-law scrapyard in Albuquerque
New Mexico this is an aerial view of
that scrapyard I felt as if I was inside
a living functional cell the type of
cell that makes up tissues and organs in
your body now I was inspired by how
similar this is to the work that I do
this was the moment that I realized I
can step outside my laboratory I have a
new approach to understand my work
specifically I’m a cell biologist and a
microscopist and as an instructor in
medicine
I teach undergraduates life sciences my
passion is to fully understand how cells
work because this determines how all
creatures including you thrive and die
and I want to share the significance of
cell biology with my students and my
peers one of my students created this
graphic art it demonstrates a true
connection between the arts and the
sciences I believe a captivating graphic
can stimulate the imagination so I
reached out to artists and I asked them
to illustrate my ideas about science and
my work and the process of communicating
these ideas to people who have seemingly
unrelated disciplines helped me
understand my work more Einstein said if
you can’t explain your idea to a
six-year-old then you don’t understand
it yourself my work requires the
expertise of using some of the most
powerful microscopes in the world this
is a picture of a microscope similar to
what I have them in my laboratory and
this is a one-of-a-kind state-of-the-art
microscope it allows us to see up to a
hundred times magnification and combines
with modern technology and chemistry
we’re able to visualize single molecules
single molecules I mean how cool is that
so I spend hours a day many hours a day
in a darkroom looking through the
oculars on a microscope studying cells
and what is inside them and importantly
I enjoy doing this so here’s a simple
example of one a microscope can do there
are three objects in this dish that are
barely detectable using the naked eye
but if we use a microscope with 40 times
magnification we’re able to see that
objects in the dish in great detail I
focus intensely on understanding how
molecules organize themselves and I
translate this organism this
organization to disease I work to
understand how patterns of molecules
result in disease and what I noticed is
something called bio symmetry which
simply means patterns in nature the
persistence of these patterns is
ubiquitous and sublime and having
written and published papers on
organization I began to see by symmetry
manifested outside the laboratory I’d be
at the market shopping for vegetables or
out for a jog along the beautiful
Charles River or in my garden and my
erine flowers and I see that Nature has
evolved and reproduced itself on many
levels in our plants animals trees and
in our skies and as a result of these
observations I became even more
motivated to explore patterns my goal it
was to become more open-minded much more
open-minded to counteract the tunnel
vision that can potentially coincide
with looking through the oculars so my
solution was to reach out to artists
collaborate with them explain them key
concepts to see what they can come up
with using their creativity talent and
inspiration
I believe collaborations let’s say
between an historian and a physicist or
a musician and an engineer would be
productive
for my collaboration with fine artists
has resulted in the following works of
art my experience in that scrapyard in
Albuquerque New Mexico we’re on a
micro-level
I’m studying cells looking through a
microscope and on a macro level I’m
standing in the desert as if I feel like
I’m inside of a cell this connection to
me was really illuminating so I wanted
an image something to reflect on to help
me think outside the cell or inside the
cell so I asked an artist to illustrate
this and this is this is the art so in
the upper right hand corner in a
scrapyard there’s a piece of machinery
called a shredder and it shreds metal
this is similar to what lysozymes do in
cells they shred unwanted material and
on the bottom of this art these train
cars are towing metal in and out of the
scrap yard
similar to what vesicles do in cells
transport proteins and molecules around
and in and out of a cell I asked another
artist to illustrate bio symmetry that
we see on many levels in our world this
represents a mirrored bio symmetry so on
the molecular level the geometrical
configuration of a lattice of frozen
water is similar to what you see in some
viruses and it’s similar to what we find
in nature in our honeycombs and you can
even find it in our skies and some
constellations and a different
configuration the spiral found in our
own DNA double helix it’s found in the
horns of bighorn sheep and it’s also
found on conch shells found on our
beaches and even in our cosmos in our
own Milky Way so the next time you go to
the market take a look in the vegetable
section and see if you can spot
Romanesco
it also has that same spiral geometrical
pattern and it’s delicious
I asked another artist to illustrate how
people may seem by Oh symmetry on a
micro and macro way but in a different
way so here dendritic cells and tree
dendritic cells and neurons look like
tree branches to each of these four
panels represent how neurons look like
trees and the perception of scale and
structure is defined by our own
experiences for example one may see
these tree branches looking from the
canopy down another may see it looking
from the ground up but all of these
observations in nature have enriched my
view of the world one of my students
asked me to further explain innate
immunity which is how the body defends
itself from pathogens or foreign
invaders and my favorite cell the
neutrophil is a type of white blood cell
that circulates in our bloodstream
waiting to be called upon to stop damage
so when the body is under a viral
infection or attack from bacteria or
even as a result of a splinter the
neutrophil is the cell the first one
there to the scene for damage control so
I asked an artist to illustrate this
concept so here the superhero
represents a neutrophil swimming amongst
other blood cells defending itself in
its environment from a foreign invader I
use this piece of art as a teaching tool
to initiate conversation which naturally
leads to questions being asked and in
the end everyone involved we all have a
better understanding of innate immunity
this last piece of art holds a special
place in my heart because it was the
first piece that I commissioned it
represents how the micro world is
connected to the macro world so in the
micro world we need a microscope to see
DNA in cells and viruses and it’s
connected to the macro world which we
need a telescope to see our planets and
stars through the Tree of Life and I use
this art to explain to my young children
how big but yet small our world is the
images and works of art that I’ve shown
you here today are examples of how an
artist can create a vision and this has
helped me stay open-minded I’ve learned
a way to boost my creativity a way to
think outside or inside the cell and
these imaginative and visual
collaborations have formed a bridge of
understanding a symbiotic relationship
between an artist and a scientist using
fine artists to illustrate scientific
ideas has made me a better communicator
a teacher a scientist and a thinker and
in a world where we are being asked to
narrow our views I believe we should
branch out and collaborate with those
who have seemingly unrelated disciplines
so I hope all of you here today leave
with a greater feeling of
interconnectedness appreciating bio
symmetry and the patterns of life all
around you
Please follow and like us: