A Three-Dimensional Interactive Cell Goals Cell Biology has traditionally been taught through a combination of two-dimensional diagrams, blackboard drawings, and microscope labs. With these methods it is difficult for students to get a real understanding of either the topology of the cell or the form of the various organelles. The Virtual Cell project lets the biology student get inside the cell and view 3D models of its structures. This project will eventually include two-dimensional animations of cell processes to supplement traditional static textbook illustrations, as well as additional three-dimensional animations, and VRML models of the cell.
The Three-Dimensional Cell
Here the student can access the following: An explantion of the problems of cell visualization Several views of a model cell Several views of a model cell with its internal membranes made visible. An animation for Windows or Macintosh flies you through the cell
The Organelles
The Cell Nucleus is one of the organelles you can look at in detail.	The golgi Apparatus
The mitochondria

The Greenhouse was a project by Jim Rusconi that was originally sponsored by the National Science Foundation Center for Graphics and Scientific Visualization. Rusconi and his students have continued this work in the Virtual Cell project

Please mail comments on the Greenhouse Web Site to Anne Spalter (ams@cs.brown.edu).

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