Crystal Clear
The story behind the image
Creating art from insulin!
Dorothy Hodgkin looked at how atoms fit together into very complicated molecules. She used X-ray crystallography to find out what penicillin and insulin look like. Knowing what the molecules look like has helped other scientists understand how these molecules work, and to make new medicines.
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The story behind the image
Where did our design for the Crystal Clear resource come from?
Back in the 1950s, a team of designers led by a scientist, Dr Helen Megaw, began to use designs inspired by crystal structure in their work.
Here is a section of a drawing, published in a scientific paper in 1988, by Dorothy Hodgkin and her colleages. Can you see some similar shapes to the design above?
From drawings such as the one above, designers created repeating designs, for use in things like wallpaper and fabric. Below you can see "Insulin 8.25 Wallpaper", designed by Robert Sevant.
Image courtesy of V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum.
To find out more, visit the Wellcome Collection website to view their exhibition "From Atoms to Patterns".