Molecular Visualisation: Carbohydrates
- Online learning tools exist that can provide visualisations of large biomolecules
- Mouse functions can zoom and rotate molecules
- Many of these make use of JMol software, a database of large molecules that can be visualised in near-3D
- The differences between cellulose, starch and glycogen can be observed in close to 3-D quality
- An Internet search for 'molecular visualisation software' will identify some good options
- Features include
- Loading multiple molecules to show independent movement
- Surface topography; as many biological reactions are on a theme of 3-D shapes fitting together
- Cavity visualisation; has applications when looking at structures eg. channel proteins in membranes
- The appearance of atoms can be adapted to fill space or show gaps in molecules eg. the helical nature of amylose
- Having a visualisation of these molecules helps to understand how they have evolved to fulfil their specific functions
