BioVis 2011 Abstract

FoldSynth: A physics-based interactive visualisation platform for proteins and other molecular strands Peter Todd, Stephen Todd, Frederic Fol Leymarie, William Latham, Benjamin Jefferys, Lawrence Kelley

FoldSynth is an interactive multimedia platform designed to help people understand the characteristics of molecular strands with an emphasis on proteins. It uses a simple model of molecular forces to give real time interactive animations of the folding and docking processes. The shape of a molecular strand is shown as a 3D visualization floating above a 2D triangular matrix representing distance constraints, contact maps or other features of residue pairs. The 2D visualization is also interactive and can be used to manipulate a molecule, define constraints, control and view the folding dynamically, or even design new molecules.