Molecular Models At The Films

By Ariel Pressler


Models in the Films

Indigo Instruments is not only about supplying scientific kit to schools technicians, homeschoolers and students undertaking their science fair project. No! A fair few molecular models and countless other things have created their way to Hollywood, got themselves around the little screen and featured in some offbeat web experiments.

VP Stephan Logan explains how Rob Cohen's 2005 movie "Stealth" is described online Movie Database as "Surprisingly enjoyable". Why? Because a plot line primarily based on three pilots deeply ensconced inside a top-secret military plan struggling to bring an artificial intelligence system under manage just before it initiates WWIII sounds just so unsurprising. The film characteristics intense action, violence and innuendo. But, far more excitingly it also characteristics a 17-layer DNA model from Indigo. So, for what was it these pilots required a model of DNA? You will have to watch the film to discover.

One of Indigo's "anatomically correct" 12-layer DNA models also characteristics in the existing hit movie "Fantastic 4." In this marvelous piece of cinema, a group of astronauts gain superpowers after becoming exposed to cosmic radiation (yeah, proper!) and are destined to use them in fighting the world-dominating plans from the evil Medical professional Victor Von Doom. They could not have believed of a a lot more corny name for the villain, but at the least the DNA molecular model utilized within the film is scientifically accurate, possessing been constructed to the highest specifications by Indigo's Logan himself.

As soon as once more, superheroes will be the subject of another movie to function molecular model kits supplied to Hollywood by Indigo Instruments. In "Return of Zoom", a movie based around the graphic novel "Zoom's Academy for the Super Gifted" by Jason Lethcoe, an unpopular high school girl sent to superhero college by her "mysterious" father and discovers her hidden talents (a la Harry Potter, methinks). The makers of this movie, also utilized a DNA model from Indigo to reveal the inner workings of human genetics at the molecular level. Sadly, for Indigo's image, the director asked for the model to become specially produced to ensure that it would fall apart simply. Don't ask why, you will need to go see the movie. Needless to say, any models you buy from Indigo Instruments will be created to far more exacting requirements and are assured not to fall apart!

Stepping back from the superheroes, Indigo Instruments was proud also to supply a whole series of chemical models for the producing of Eddie Murphy blockbuster, "The Nutty Professor". Mineral models like an enormous zeolite model and a model on the structure of diamond have been employed to great effect within the film as Professor Sherman Klump, desperately wanting to drop weight, requires a chemical cocktail that morphs him into the slimly obnoxious Buddy Really like. The mineral models feature prominently as classic examples of Klump's laboratory gear.

Molecular models from Indigo Instruments have not only caught Hollywood's eye, but arthouse directors have turned to Indigo Instruments to provide them with molecular models also. So, Indigo can now lay claim to having appeared at the Toronto Film Festival.

DNA and also other molecular models from Indigo, have also hit the tiny screen in Television crime show "Law & Order", in sci-fi classic "Stargate Atlantis", and on CBS News during the celebrations on the 50th anniversary of the discovery on the structure of DNA.

It's not just the entertainment industry that is fascinated by Indigo's DNA models. "We've also sold a 17-layer DNA model to such organizations as Bell Labs, IBM, and even shipped 1 to Erasmus University Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where the SARS virus was first identified," says Indigo SD Stephan Logan. In addition NASA lesson plans such as their magnets and life lesson cites Indigo Instruments as a useful source of powerful rare earth magnets. Images from Indigo Instruments have been utilized on countless lecture tours and in science demonstrations including these by staff at Wisha University. A chemical flask from Indigo has even been adapted to make a heliograph, or sun tracker.

"We have sold DNA models to lawyers for court cases involving patent issues," adds Logan, "major museums and institutions, such as the Bill Clinton Museum, Howard Hughes Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Hospital, US Naval Academy, Harvard University, New York University and elsewhere, also have our DNA models and others on display." Intriguingly, even the infamous Martha Stewart has bought glassware from Indigo, within the form of test tubes and Erlenmeyer flasks for use in floral arrangements.




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