![[requested_image (11).png]] <input type="checkbox" id="egg" style="display:none;"><label for="egg" class="easter-label"></label> ![[DJL_Chaperone.png]] Between school and work you can find me getting lost in a journal paper, sharing an evening fire with friends, creating data-driven art, or riding my bike through the city. I combine art with data to translate unseeable biological systems into accurate, accessible visual narratives. By bridging raw datasets from researchers worldwide I make structural biology intelligible without compromising scientific fidelity. ![[subunit.png]] Casting shadows of life's nanometer toolkit with an electron beam, a technique known as **cryo-electron microscopy ([cryo-EM](https://youtu.be/qc2PbmI5qMw?si=HOvVoLZL2QZKv-PD))**, allows the reconstruction of the internal machinery of entire cells. Ultimately, cryo-EM helps us link a cell's nanoscale architecture to its macroscopic function across three core pillars > **Rehumanizing Illness**<br>Eliminating highly incident and prevalent disease without stigma<br> > **Boosting World Ecology**<br>Developing long-term strategies for environmental disasters<br> > **Realizing Human Welfare**<br>Cultivating a reverent life with emphasis on its intricacies ![[DJL Cell Landscape.png]] [Over 250 proteins are discovered weekly.](https://www.rcsb.org/search?request=%7B%22query%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22group%22%2C%22nodes%22%3A%5B%7B%22type%22%3A%22group%22%2C%22nodes%22%3A%5B%7B%22type%22%3A%22group%22%2C%22nodes%22%3A%5B%7B%22type%22%3A%22terminal%22%2C%22service%22%3A%22text%22%2C%22parameters%22%3A%7B%22attribute%22%3A%22rcsb_entity_source_organism.taxonomy_lineage.name%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22exact_match%22%2C%22value%22%3A%22Homo%20sapiens%22%7D%7D%2C%7B%22type%22%3A%22terminal%22%2C%22service%22%3A%22text%22%2C%22parameters%22%3A%7B%22attribute%22%3A%22rcsb_accession_info.initial_release_date%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22range%22%2C%22value%22%3A%7B%22from%22%3A%22now-1M%22%2C%22to%22%3A%22now%22%7D%7D%7D%5D%2C%22logical_operator%22%3A%22and%22%7D%5D%2C%22logical_operator%22%3A%22and%22%7D%5D%7D%2C%22return_type%22%3A%22entry%22%7D) By creating visualizations that get to the point across without rolling up your sleeves I create results that anyone can reproduce in the natural sciences.^[Wilkinson MD, Dumontier M, Aalbersberg IJ, Appleton G, Axton M, Baak A, Blomberg N, Boiten JW, da Silva Santos LB, Bourne PE, Bouwman J. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific data. 2016 Mar 15;3(1):1-9. doi: 10.1038/sdata.2016.18] Learning new ways to spot patterns in real world data should be accessible to anyone, regardless of who they are. ![[requested_image (9).png]] Specifically, much of my work focuses on how proteins form incredible shapes and band together to sustain processes that underlie all life.^[Bustamante C. Molecular machines one molecule at a time. Protein science: a publication of the Protein Society. 2017 Jun 20;26(7):1245. doi: 10.1002/pro.3205] ![[Page Title (1).png]] # Insulin and Insulin Hexagons To better understand human insulin storage I created the figure below: ![[lemasterdj_insulin_storage_figure.png]] **Active insulin** regulates our blood sugar only after bonding **insulin A-chain** with **insulin B-chain**. **Pancreatic beta-cells** sandwich two identical insulin molecules as **insulin dimers**. After this, 3 of these dimers click together as one large, 6-piece storage form, called an **insulin hexamer**. Because a hexamer is an efficient packing pattern like honeycombs in a beehive, they can be rapidly disassembled by splitting into 3 dimers and further into 6 separate active insulin molecules on-the-spot. Obtaining data from the RCSB Protein Data Bank^[Berman HM, Burley SK. Protein Data Bank (PDB): Fifty-three years young and having a transformative impact on science and society. Quarterly reviews of biophysics. 2025 Jan;58:e9. doi: 10.1017/S0033583525000034] I shared this example to visualize how cell's organize what's on the inside to assume different functions. Giving a deeper context to data by eye that's valuable for educational, translational, and clinical communication has been a truly exciting endeavor.^[Ayan E, Engilberge S, Yokoi S, Orlans J, de Sanctis D, Basu S, Rive‐Mathieu E, Kepceoglu A, Mitsutake A, Demirci H. Triple Calcium Binding Stoichiometry in the Monoclinic Crystal Form of Protracted Insulin. Small Structures. 2025 Dec;6(12):e202500398. doi: 10.1002/sstr.202500398] # Contact Got a burning question? Think we'd work well together? Reach out. - **[email protected]** - [**(614) 604-2565**](tel:6146042565) - [**LinkedIn**](https://linkedin.com/in/lemasterdj) - [**ORCID**](https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3548-3303) - [**Google Scholar**](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NX8d1_EAAAAJ) - [**Zotero Library**](https://www.zotero.org/lemasterdj/item-list) - [**Instagram**](https://instagram.com/lemasterdj) **David LeMaster** Visualizing life's nano-toolkit.