Concept:
This sculpture celebrates
the achievements of the team of Singaporean scientists
that helped to discover many aspects of the SARS virus,
including the structure of the SARS protease. The team,
an international collaboration, used X-ray crystallography
to deduce the intricate form of this critical protein that
comprises the SARS virus. They then located an active cleft
in the protein that could potentially be used as a target
for drugs capable of stopping the virus.
The viewer is invited to enter the active cleft, which
represents only one tiny segment of this fantasically complex
virus. The sinuous twists and turns are an accurate ribbon
diagram of the SARS protein and depict the protein's constant
movement and vibration, which seem to grow from the depth
of the Epi-center garden at Biopolis. The roughly hewn
stepping stones form a path through the core of the sculpture,
representing the protease and thus enabling the viewer
to literally walk through the sculpture's cleft and metaphorically
experience what it is like to stop the SARS virus in its
track.
To see more details about this discovery look at Prof.
Dr. Rolf Hilgenfeld's work at:
www.biochem.uni-luebeck.de
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