Here’s an example label for a Protein Portrait of hemoglobin, a molecule that definitely is on my all-time favorites list.
Protein: Hemoglobin
Artist: Phil McFadden
Take a breath… where did it go? Hemoglobin, the vividly red oxygen-carrying protein of our blood, has carried it away to your heart and beyond. Here I portray hemoglobin in the shape of our four-chambered heart. Two of the subunits, shown as red, still hold onto their oxygen, tightly bound to iron. The other two subunits, shown as blue, have let go of their oxygen. So get ready… soon it will be time to take another breath.
(OK, I didn’t actually make a portrait. But you get the idea — a label should be short, not-too-technical, and should tie together the art and the science of your portrait. Please post the text of your label by the end of Week 9; you don’t need to post any graphics.)
The above drawing of the 4-chambered heart is from www.pted.org. The model of hemoglobin is by David Goodsell from his Molecule of the Month for May 2003.
