Stills from Chris Hammang’s Alzheimer’s Enigma 3D biomedical animation exploring the neurons of the human brain. Photo: actclare.colley
Understanding the complex biological processes behind Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes can seem near impossible for someone without a science background.
But two new 3D animations intend to strip away the jargon, bring the information to life and share it with the masses via YouTube.
The two videos premiered at the CSIRO Discovery Centre on Wednesday night.
Hammang’s animation will show what goes wrong in the brain to cause the disease. Photo: actclare.colley
The creator of Alzheimer’s Enigma, Chris Hammang, said his animation was six months in the making with about half the time dedicated to investigating the literature and collaborating with the researchers behind the science.
“I want to take all the information out there and distil it down to something useful for people,” he said.
“A lot of what is in the scientific literature of course affects people’s lives but it’s difficult for people to access when it’s written in scientific language.
“We take what’s out there and try and strip away the abstract ideas and instead try and communicate the fundamentals.”
He believes the approach makes the videos accessible for everybody and the mode of distribution on YouTube broadens the reach.
“I believe school students will find them really useful to find out more detailed biology, I think they’re great for scientists because it allows them to start discussions about their work … and I think it’s also very useful for university education,” he said.
“I also hope they’re suitable for the general public for everyone who’s interested in science and hopefully get people out there more engaged.”
Mr Hammang said much of the “excellent research” done in Australia could help people make decisions about their health and what they do in life, but only if it was communicated to them.
Although he has a medical science background, including time working in cell biology research, working as biomedical animator allows him to marry his skills with his passion for art.
Mr Hammang said visually communicating science was not a new idea, but the practice had evolved through the use of computers to bring the concepts to life and distil detailed information into shorter frames of time.
The two videos were part of the second round of biomedical animations created through VizbiPlus – a joint project of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and CSIRO – supported by a federal government grant.
Mr Hammang’s animation explores the neurons of the human brain, and reveals how normal protein breakdown processes become dysfunctional and result in plaque formation during Alzheimer’s disease.
Maja Divjak’s animation The Insulin Receptor and Type 2 Diabetes, also premiering on Wednesday, focuses on the insulin receptor structure and what might be happening in insulin resistance, based on pioneering research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.