Visualization of Electron-Density Contours from Protein Crystallography

The purpose of this project is to enable high-quality visualization of the primary data from protein X-ray crystallography, electron-density contours, alongside molecular models. No current software package does this well. Such visualization is critical to assessing how well a model describes the data. We are designing and implementing a package that will read electrondensity maps, select contour levels, specify contour regions, produce isosurfaces, and select graphical representations of contours (wireframes, solids, or transparent surfaces). Existing molecular graphics programs will be able to display these isosurfaces and write them, along with model representations, to a rayshading program capable of producing publication-quality graphics. I. Introduction Proteins are the machinery of life and are studied to learn about the processes of life. Proteins are a linear polymer of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, and all life is made from this set of amino acids. Amino acids vary..