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I'm a senior from Fort Lauderdale who is passionate about my research. I am graduating this semester and taking a gap year before going to med school

The Applications of 3D Printing Atomic Structures

Abstract

3D printing is a form of manufacturing physical object from a three-dimensional digital model. ChimeraX is a software used manipulate and analyze atomic structures and their molecular components. With using ChimeraX and 3D printing, it is hoped to bring awareness to the benefits of visual model usage in educational settings as well as for future research purposes. ChimeraX was used to modify 7KO4, a structure of cardiac native thin filament, and other high-resolution structures such as 8UWW, to prepare for 3D printing. Blah blah Laurens steps. For the purpose of building a structure that can be separated and differentiated, ChimeraX will be used to color the different components of a muscle cell (actin, tropomyosin, and troponin). These components can then be magnetized with the aim of reassembly to understand how their processes work together. When 7KO4 was printed, it was used as a model to clarify findings in muscle mechanic laboratories among researchers in the Biology Department. This project is only the beginning for the implementation of 3D models in classroom environments and research presentations to demonstrate the importance of a cellular structure that is normally understood in its photographed two-dimensional state. Outside of the educational sphere, 3D models can be utilized in continued research. Their physical structures can aid in the identification of missing components or contribute towards higher understandings of the molecular structures as they can be modified and added to as new research develops and ideas are discovered.

Keywords: 7KO4, 7KO5, Ca2+