Conference: Re-imagining a cellular space occupied by condensates

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

Condensates have emerged as a provocative new way to understand how cells are organized. This novel understanding suggests that the cell is occupied by numerous droplets, each comprised of a small number of member proteins that preferentially interact with each other. However, the available visual representations of condensates fail to communicate the growing body of knowledge about how condensates form and are maintained, and also focuses attention on only a subset of the potential implications of condensates. We therefore propose a workshop that will foster a community engaged with constructing a visual language and new tools to accurately capture the complexity of condensates. The workshop will bring together experts from diverse disciplines to re-imagine cellular space: about one-third of the participants will be biologists actively engaged in condensate research, one-third will be visualization and computation specialists, including modeling experts, data visualization specialists and molecular animators, and one-third will come from fields that do not normally engage with cell biology but that have long been thinking about space and ways to represent it, such as architecture, design, urbanism, and cognitive science. We will explore specific approaches to communicate concepts and intuitions about cellular space to colleagues and students. The representations created in the conference will generate experimentally-testable hypotheses and allow for the development of new tools for scientific communication and teaching. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.