Visualizing science.

Capsigen is revolutionizing medicine with a technique called TRADE, which allows for the quick discovery and engineering of capsids. These parts of a cell only interact with the exact parts of the body they’re “told” to interact with. And for us to help tell their story, we first identified our challenge: Visualize a technology that can only be seen with electron microscopes—and make it make sense to ordinary people, investors, and care providers alike.

One nucleotide at a time.

In mid-to-late 2020, most of the world was hearing a lot about mRNA as scientists raced against the clock to develop a COVID-19 defense. Our audience’s pump had been primed. Most people knew about DNA and what its double helix looks like—that was a good start to set up our visual strategy. But, few (except for those on the frontiers of medicine) knew much about a crucial component in delivering mRNA treatments.

The key: Capsids.

Capsids are the shells around viruses that allow them to interact with and enter living cells. While we all think of viruses as things harmful to us, a lot of them are completely benign. By engineering helpful capsids, we can use them to deliver mRNA medicines like the COVID-19 vaccine. The hardest part is discovering which ones target certain cells and organs—all so medicine is delivered to specific areas of the body.

Moving through the envelope.

To help them understand the complete delivery of an mRNA treatment, we had to take site visitors through the envelope—a microscopic path informed and validated by real experts. Working through the science, we dove into research and interviews (that helped us really understand what we were talking about), and crafted a simplified story and visual language inspired by the real electron microscope imagery of capsids and cells. After sketching it out, it was brought to life with a 3D sequence. So the audience wouldn’t have to get too deep in the weeds, added user controls provided the ability to walk through it all at their own pace.