Viruses in Glass

H1N1 (swine flu) virus sculpture by Luke Jerram.

Some people knit bacteria, our students create models of plant and animal cells as an assignment, and Luke Jerram blows viruses in glass.

Interestingly, he does not use colors, just clear, transparent glass, because while almost all pictures you see of viruses, from scanning electron microscopic images to text-book diagrams, have color, the color is added for scientific visualization. So, he believes, his glass replicas are more realistic. This is described in this interview.

About the works:

The pieces, each about 1,000,000 times the size of the actual pathogen, were designed with help from virologists from the University of Bristol using a combination of scientific photographs and models.

— Caridad (2011): Harmful Viruses Made of Beautiful Glass

The video below shows how it’s done.

There is a lot more information on the art and the science at the Glass Microbiology website.

Leave a Reply