Presenting my latest project – a video game called Microscopya
I’m thrilled to finally share my very first sketches for Microscopya – my science video game exploring the fantastical world inside the cell! Microscopya will…
New EMBO Journal Cover – dancing towards pluripotency
This artwork illustrates how two processes cooperate to create stem cells – represented by the dancer’s choreography on her way to pluripotency. Stem cells have been…
Artwork for VIZBI – a conference on Visualizing Biological Data
Presenting my new artwork for the 11th international meeting on Visualizing Biological Data at the USC Bridge Institute – a VIZBI 2020 ‘Hollywood’ sign illuminated…
New publication – communicating scientific concepts through art
I’m so excited to share my newest publication – this time not a research paper, but an article on ‘Communicating scientific concepts through art” in…
Handcuffs for CRISPR – my new drawing for a Molecular Cell paper!
You may not see it, but an evolutionary battle is being waged all around us between bacteria and the viruses that target them. This drawing…
My drawing in a TEDx talk!
My drawing is in a TEDx talk! The topic is inheritance of memories in C. elegans, which I illustrated as a worm family tree made…
N=1 Podcast: Science meets art — on a dress
Check out the new UC San Diego Health N=1 Podcast episode where I talk about my research, science art and my AAAS IF/THEN outreach for women…
Very excited to be an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador for Women in STEM!
I’m so honored to be chosen as an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador – a program to inspire girls to be the next generation of STEM pioneers!…
My Nature Genetics cover illustrating a rearranged genetic landscape!
A new paper in Nature Genetics challenges the current model of how the genome’s 3D organisation controls gene expression. Using Drosophila fruit flies that carry…
An RNA Snapshot of the Past and Present!
When our cells respond to stimuli or differentiate, they change their gene expression dramatically and modify RNA transcription to regulate their genes. One way to…
A worm family tree made of neurons that transmit ‘molecular memories’ across multiple generations!
This drawing illustrates how changes in the nervous system of C. elegans worms can affect behavior in future generations through small RNAs that regulate expression of…
EMBO Reports cover – stabilizing mRNA strands for memory formation!
Presenting my new EMBO Reports cover – stabilizing mRNA strands for memory formation! Learning and forming memories are fundamental processes essential for survival, requiring precise…
A Pac-Man Toxin in Tuberculosis!
Tuberculosis is a serious infectious disease and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The disease-causing bacteria, called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are depicted in the drawing…
Cover for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Crocheting the mitoribosome – a combination of a hand-drawn illustration with a real structure of the human mitochondrial ribosome. Ribosomes are giant machineries composed of…
EMBO Reports Cover
My new cover for EMBO Reports – illustrating how editing of RNAs prevents autoimmunity! Our immune system is extremely efficient in protecting us from foreign…
Mission Patch for Worms in Space!
I designed a patch for a worm space mission! The Molecular Muscle Experiment will be sending worms into space to study the negative effects of…
A Scientific Star Map
It’s a wonderful honor to present my new drawing for this year’s ASCB|EMBO meeting! Take the ASCB Model Organism quiz to find out what model organism…
Growing Brain Cancer in Petri Dishes
Brain tumors are aggressive and deadly cancers, yet it has been difficult to study them in the laboratory. A new Nature Methods paperreports a ground-breaking…
An Epigenetic Jungle
A gibbon is swinging across a river within an epigenetic landscape, which regulates compaction and expression of our DNA. The arid desert illustrates loosely packed…
A Knitted Network of DNA
During division, cells disassemble their nucleus and release many independent chromosomes – but how are all those chromosomes enclosed in a single nucleus after mitosis?…
A Dynamic ESCRT for Splitting Membranes
I’m so excited to share a drawing I made for my own paper recently published in Nature Cell Biology! This artwork illustrates the dynamics of…
Nature Methods Cover – An Arrow Poison for CRISPR
My new artwork on the current Nature Methods cover – what a great honor! Congratulations to the Doyon lab for a fantastic paper!
EMBO Journal Cover – Self Organization in Cerebral Organoids
So excited have my drawing on the current issue of EMBO Journal! This artwork illustrates how ‘minibrains’ self-organize their cells into distinct zones – like…
An Eye-catcher for the CSHL Symposium
I had the huge honor to illustrate the poster for the 82nd Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium on Chromosome Segregation and Structure. I can’t express…
An ‘ESCRT’ Dress to Address My Research
I made this dress to explain my research on cytokinetic abscission – the final step of cell division: When animal cells need to split their…
Making C. elegans Reveal Its Secrets
I made this drawing to illustrate Sriram Sundaramoorthy’s research, who presented the illustration at the ASCB Meeting 2016 in San Francisco. Sriram explains the story behind the drawing: “My…
Genes to Genomes Feature!
My scientific illustrations were featured on Genes to Genomes, a blog from the Genetics Society of America. Their GSA-Art series creates a wonderful space for sharing the…
The Stories Behind My Drawings
You can read about the stories behind my scientific illustrations on The Node. I am so excited for my artwork to be featured in a…
EMBO Journal Cover – A Molecular Compass for Cell Division
I made this drawing for the cover of the EMBO Journal to accompany our new paper on mammalian brain development. The paper shows that a…
An Unconventional Take on Scientific Presentations
I began making scientific illustrations when I realized that showing a drawing as part of my scientific presentations sparked interest and tended to stay in…
Mechanical Forces in Cell Division
Before DNA is segregated during cell division, chromosomes are held near the center of the cell by the mitotic spindle, which connects to the chromosomes…
Failed Experiment
Oh no! An unsuccessful experiment can bring up very intense emotions, which every scientist is certainly familiar with! I created these drawings for an animation…
Basic Research ‘apps’
As part of the organizing committee, I had the wonderful opportunity to design an illustration for the upcoming VBC PhD Symposium in Vienna titled ‘Mind…
The Five-Second Rule
What happens when you drop food on the floor? According to the myth of the “five-second rule”, bacteria will wait patiently so you have time…