The last illustration we featured depicted tumor cell processing and presentation. This illustration has now become a diptych!
'Phagocytosis of Tumor Cells' is a new 3D painting created by Audra Geras to show the events that preceded antigen processing. Here is a look at this new diptych.
The diptych paintings are intended for a variety of uses. These include their exhibition as framed large-scale fine art giclées on canvas that are on permanent exhibit at Trillium Therapeutics Inc.
Is it possible there is a triptych coming soon?
Hope you enjoy this recently completed illustration explaining the basic MHC Class I immune process following the phagocytosis of a tumor cell.
The story starts following the phagocytosis and degradation of a tumor cell by a dendritic cell. Further degradation of tumor protein by proteasomes creates 8 to 10 amino acid long antigenic peptides. T cells become activated as a result of the presentation of these antigenic peptides by MHC Class I to the T cell receptor (TCR).
by Audra:
I have written in the past about the importance of discovering sources of inspiration everywhere in the world around us, and I wanted to share an amusing anecdote about a very recent example.
So... while preparing dinner one day, I became captivated by the beauty of the forming water bubbles at the bottom of my cast iron wok - sooo lovely and ethereal. I watched while they evolved and quickly snapped some photos to capture them before they disappeared. I showed them to my husband and told him laughingly, "You're going to see these turned into a conceptual painting of an ovum in the near future!". (Cue rolling eyeballs.)
Well... here is the inspiration, and the artist's representation that it gave rise to: an image of an ovum surrounded by its corona radiata.
I’ve always had a heightened awareness and appreciation for the intricacy and beauty of nature, both on the level of the ‘microverse’ and of the ‘macroverse’. Subtle and overlooked or neglected beauty especially fascinates me… like the unexpected delicacy and grace of a weed blooming from a crack in the city pavement. Sometimes, when the light is just right, and the shadows are just so, such vignettes are gifts of stunning beauty that, sadly, most often remain unnoticed – I’ve always noticed.
It’s astonishing how most people go through life oblivious to what’s around them. One morning, driving along the coast of Lake Ontario, I was stunned to see that the entire surface of the lake was covered by thousands of will-o-the-wisp-like spirals of mist rising every five feet or so. I’d never seen anything like it! It was a truly magical vista. But when I glanced at the other drivers around me, there wasn’t a single person who was taking even the slightest notice!
How sad… Of course my husband, Niclas, said that they were all busy watching the road, as I should have been – Hahaha!
The important point I want to make is that there are sources of awe and inspiration everywhere, one only needs to have a sensibility to their existence. Take the time to look… you may never have the chance again!
We've decided to feature recently completed projects in our blog section to let you know what we've been up to. Hope you enjoy this first image entitled, Glomeruli of the Kidney. The illustration was created by Audra for a biotechnology company.
This 3D illustration features the structure of a glomerulus, the basic filtration unit of the kidney, within the environment of a kidney cortex. Glomeruli are capillary clusters or knots that are enveloped by interdigitating podocyte cells and ensheathed by a capsule known as the Bowman's capsule. The Bowman's capsule is an expansion of the proximal convoluted tubule and consists of a membrane formed by parietal epithelial cells. The green cells shown are known as extraglomerular mesangial cells. These cells synthesize renin, a hormone involved in the renin-angiotensin autoregulation system of the kidney.
Glomerular disease impairs the ability of the kidneys to filter out and eliminate toxins.
We have just launched our new Geras Healthcare Productions website!
We have made a few changes, especially to our Illustration Gallery, adding some categories that may help you in searching for images relevant to your project. The images are also larger now so that you can more easily see the level of refinement our work displays.
Hope you like it! Please let us know what you think. We would really appreciate getting your feedback!
You may be surprised to know that Audra Geras is also a successful fine artist working in a style she has named 'evocative abstract expression'.
We invite you to take a look at the flip side of Audra's work at her recently updated new website: www.audragerasfineart.com
Biotechnology firm, Trillium Therapeutics Inc., has now settled into its beautifully designed new facility and we are excited to announce that Trillium's new home hosts a permanent collection of Audra's science-based fine art. Audra's large format paintings on canvas were commissioned by Trillium to correspond to the specific areas of research and development that form the focus of Trillium's work. This is a growing collection as Audra is currently working on several dramatic new paintings for Trillium. Several of Audra's evocative abstract paintings are included in the collection.
Audra and her husband, Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, attended the 2016 Canada Gairdner Awards honoring some of the most important global medical discoveries. The Awards ceremony and dinner was once again held at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto. This year 5 of the 7 $100,000.00 awards were given to researchers focused on a single subject, CRSPR technology.
Read more about the Gairdner Awards
"The Gairdner Awards are an overwhelmingly emotional celebration of excellence, and it was a real privilege and honor to be there again this year to hear this incredible group of international scientists speak, and to watch them receive the Gairdner. Humbling and inspirational."
The Gairdner Award is known as a Nobel Prize predictor and indeed one of last year's winners, Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan, won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology for his ground-breaking work on autophagy.
Champagne under the ROM's Futalognksaurus, a 110 ft. long-necked sauropod!
Geras Healthcare Productions is now on Twitter so we can keep you informed on the latest new and cool things happening in our studio. There is always something interesting going on!
We hope you'll follow us at:
Audra Geras@GHPMedArt
Happy tweeting!!
Audra's painting, 'View Beneath the Epidermis: Onset of Psoriasis', has been included in the World Illustration Awards 2016 Exhibit in London, England!
World Illustration Awards exhibition:
1 August – 29 August 2016, 10 - 6pm
Embankment East Galleries, Somerset House, London
Artist Show and Tell
Thursdays at 13:15 – 13:30
Embankment East Galleries, South Wing