CCeMMP Special Seminar – Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis – August 2025
August 20, 2025
Past Seminars
The Australian Research Council Centre for Cryo-Electron Microscopy of Membrane Proteins (CCeMMP) held their 2nd Annual ‘Bench to Art’ Exhibition to showcase the artistic flair of structural biologists in a virtual exhibition during National Science Week. Our goal was to share stories of exploration and discovery in structural biology with the broader community. To view the 2025 gallery, please access here.
Our judges awarded “Too Hot to Chandle”, “One and Four GLP-1Rs” and “Cat jumping from respiratory complex” first, second and third prize, respectively. Thank you to our judges for supporting our art exhibition in 2025:
- Prof. Wai-Hong Tham, Lab Head, ANU/WEHI
- Rachel Ung, Marketing Manager, Monash University
- Tamara Tegethoff, Illustrator and Designer, Germany
First Prize – Laura Humphrys
Too Hot to Chandle
Scented, handmade, soy wax candle of the TRPV4; a representative of the heat-sensitive ion channel family. The gradient of colour shows the flow of activation from top to bottom, outside the cell to inside the cell. The top red/orange is scented as bonfire and lit by fire for heat sensation, and the bottom section inside the cell is scented with lemon myrtle, a gentle citrus ready to accept basic ions when activated. Laura was also awarded Third Prize in the People’s Choice Awards
Second Prize – Kenta Ishii
One and Four GLP-1Rs
Inspired from One and Three Chairs (1965) by Joseph Kosuth, this ‘art’ reimagines the GLP-1 receptor in four forms: a 3D structure, its amino acid sequence, the matching nucleotide code, and a dictionary-style definition. Here, science meets conceptual art – who says receptors can’t be philosophical?
Third Prize – Muyuan Chen
Cat jumping from respiratory complex
A cat is jumping from a respiratory supercomplex inside mitochondria. This is a snapshot of a video game, currently being made, where players can navigate inside the cellular environment. Membrane geometry and large protein placement is adapted from CryoET data of mitochondria, and high resolution structures are from the PDB.
People’s Choice Award
The people chose “Mercurio”, “Yarnborne Virus: Dead or Alive” and “Too Hot to Chandle” first, second and third prize, respectively. Thank you to those taking the time to vote for our 2025 gallery.
First Prize – Juan Valenzuela
Mercurio
Life on other planets? Can we relate “planets” and “proteins?” How are they similar? The planet Mercury is made of rock and metal. Mercury’s titanium stabilizes volcanic regions, which is very beneficial because the deformation of its crust still persists. I illustrate a human actin-binding protein represented in helices and sheets. This structure is expressed in all cells of the body, especially in muscles, as it participates in muscle contraction. The gold textures are artificial visualizations of Mercury used to study the different types of metals that predominate there.
Second Prize – Somavally Dalvi
Yarnborne Virus: Dead or Alive
I study the life cycles of viruses using cryo-electron tomography, capturing them in the act of infection and host killing. When the real viruses stress me out, I crochet them instead! This cuddly virus model shows top right = the full viral villain; top left = cross-section with spikes, envelope and capsid; bottom left = the capsid; and bottom right = double-stranded RNA.