Proteopedia is a 3D, interactive encyclopedia of proteins, RNA, DNA and other molecules. Want to know what hemoglobin looks like? You’ve seen DNA, now take it out for a spin. Learn more about molecules, and rotate and zoom in on 3D representations of molecules. See how drugs interact; below, you can see HIV-1 protease (in green and blue), which is crucial for HIV’s ability to infect. Saquinavir, a protease inhibitor (shown in purple), slows the progress of HIV infections by binding to HIV-1 protease. Click on the picture to go to Proteopedia to spin the molecules to see the interaction.
Proteopedia is very much like Wikipedia; everyone can edit pages. This site is useful for scientists and students; educators can teach from the pages, and students can learn from, contribute or create their own pages as class assignments. Enter the page of the year competition and win an iPod Touch!
For even more chemistry, explore the elements that make up molecules with the periodic table of videos. This series of videos shows the pure form of each element, and includes stories about how we use the element. Sometimes, there are explosions.