How Protein Shapes Help Us Make Medicine

Inside your body there are trillions of microscopic organisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea – collectively known as the microbiota. Over the past decade, we’ve learnt that these communities help to shape our physiology and contribute to our wellbeing.

This animation shows the cellular and molecular mechanisms employed on both sides of the fight, and how antiretroviral drugs can help swing the balance in our favor.

Aerogels are the world's lightest (least dense) solids. They are also excellent thermal insulators and have been used in numerous Mars missions and the Stardust comet particle-return mission. The focus of this video is silica aerogels, though graphene aerogels are now technically the lightest.