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New Calendar Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Molecule of the Month

01/06

15th Anniversary of Molecule of the Month

In January 2000, the Molecule of the Month was launched with a feature on myoglobin, the first structure determined using X-ray crystallography.  Since then, 180 Molecule of the Month articles have explored the structure and function of PDB macromolecules from AAA+ proteases to Zinc fingers. These articles are one of the most popular features of the RCSB PDB website and are utilized by classrooms around the world.

Authored and illustrated by David S. Goodsell, Molecule of the Month features have grown over the years to include curated, interactive views, discussion topics, and links to specific examples. The carefully composed illustrations, available free for use as high resolution images, have been reproduced and used in countless educational resources.  These unique pictures of molecular machines provided both inspiration and content for the Art of Science traveling exhibit.

Through the years, Molecule of the Month features have become tightly integrated with other RCSB PDB initiatives. Many posters, paper models, and animations have been built using these features.  The articles have also led to the creation of the Structural View of Biology browser, which offers top-down contextual exploration of the PDB. January's focus on Cascade and CRISPR will be used in this year's protein modeling event in the Science Olympiad.

To celebrate this special anniversary, we have assembled an online PDF calendar for 2015 that features a small selection of the many molecular highlights of the past 15 years.

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