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Proliferating cell nuclear antigen

Rendering of a Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) molecule sliding along the DNA in a rotation-coupled translation manner by Peter Mindek, Winner of the Computer Graphics Forum 2023 Cover Image Contest

This image shows a Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) molecule sliding along the DNA in a rotation-coupled translation manner. It is part of an animation explaining the process of DNA replication. It was rendered by Marion/Vj real-time molecular animation framework. While the PCNA molecule is loaded from a PDB file (6TNY), the DNA is generated procedurally. The bubbles are generated in real-time as a post-processing effect, using a previously rendered frame to create the illusion of refraction. While light-interacting bubbles are unrealistic at the atomic scale, they serve as anchors helping with spatial orientation while the camera moves around in the 3D scene. The motion blur was created by averaging 30 frames of the real-time rendered animation.