Leah
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hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Leah
@hoxinsocks.bsky.social
2.4K followers 14K following 890 posts
I just really love shapes. I love it when things are shapes. And I love it even more when shapes are things

(Molecular model printer @3dmoleculardesigns.bsky.social‬‬, former rodent botherer, perennial cell enjoyer)
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hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Henry Wrinkler is going to San Diego; muahahahaha
A plastic finger puppet, held up in front of an airplane wall/windows, a model of the upper chunk of a mouse embryo (mostly head and forepaws). E14.5. From GigaScience. The model is about 2" tall and is a light peach color.
November 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Heh. Heh heh. Ho ho ho. Happy mole day!
A partially finished sign for 3D Molecular Designs. The 'molecular' is in progress, so it reads 3D mole designs. It's as clever as it needs to be, and I think that's beautiful.
October 24, 2025 at 4:04 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
I see the news, it seems Shakespearean,
I post a doodle of a virion
A diagram showing the carbon backbone of a phage, shown as a cross-section. Its protein shell is light purple, and its nucleic innards are light orange. (PDB ID 7LHD; https://www.rcsb.org/structure/7LHD)
September 25, 2025 at 1:33 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Printing these caps with brims was a bit excessive, but I'm glad I did, because a) I'd rather deal with brims than spiders, and--more importantly--b) now I've got inspiration for some kinda scaly knobby something something
A cluster of about 30 pea-sized white plastic spheroids, each sitting on a thin white brim that spans about 3/4" in diameter. They overlap in a cool scaly way and are very fun to fiddle with.
September 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Glowball test print for #3dThursday! I finally got it through my thick skull that it doesn't have to have glow-in-the-dark parts to be a fine upstanding glowball...
A small backlit model of ~half a virus (2VF1, I'm pretty sure, which is picobirnavirus), held with a thumb and finger in front of a flashlight. There is a yellow pentamer in the center, surrounded by 5 pink trimers; and then, at the edges of the glowball, 5 more yellow tetramers. Because it is backlit, you can't see just how terribly strandy it is.
September 12, 2025 at 4:27 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
A two-headed bacteriophage! Those are super rare...
A plastic model of a T4 bacteriophage, with a second capsid where its "legs" (long tail fibers) should be. Ain't I a stinker?
September 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
I think the last time I saw a sulfur situation like this was two years ago, almost exactly; dang, 'tis the season

www.rcsb.org/structure/8BO0
A line diagram of a vaguely similar toxin (see link for more info), zoomed in on to show three sulfur atoms joined to each other
September 10, 2025 at 1:58 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Weird little guy alert
(www.rcsb.org/3d-view/9JGG)
Ribbon diagrams showing the backbone of Murinotoxin-1, in dark purple (too dark...), with a dot for each alpha carbon. Six sulfur atoms are shown in yellow. The top two sulfur atoms are bonded to each other, like one is used to seeing in proteins like these; but the other four sulfur atoms are all joined together, which is much less common. What a weirdo!
September 10, 2025 at 1:40 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
I read the news, I want to cry,
I post a respite for the eye
A photograph of purple acrylic letters in a bed of yellow pear-shaped acrylic cell silhouettes. The letters say, in all caps, beef scout.
September 8, 2025 at 11:25 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
What is this? Wrong answers only
An old metal tool in a display case. It's about 20" long and pretty thin. On one end there is a point that looks...pointy...but is not very sharp. A few inches in from that are some serrations. Then there is a curved section with some teeth. Near the midpoint, two short arms with pointy ends are attached to the item, on either side, sandwiching it; the arms can rotate. After that there is a segment with some curves and points; then the last bit of the item gets round and wider, seeming like it would lead to a shaft-type situation.
September 6, 2025 at 4:35 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Omg how'd you know?!
The same pink model as in the previous two pictures, turned upside down and filled with three whole Werther's Originals. There are also some tiny green specks lining the inside of the glowball. Don't worry about them.
September 4, 2025 at 11:56 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Would it help to see the mystery glowball next to a nodavirus model? No? Too bad, I'm posting it anyway, they look pretty together
Two backlit plastic glowballs, each about 2" in diameter. The one on the right shows a virus-like particle from a nodavirus that causes white tail disease in prawns (PDB ID 6JJD). It is printed in three colors: a greenish star/pentamer (of which there are 6 visible in the picture); translucent ice blue blades that jut out from each green pentamer to form five-pointed stars, and light blue everywhere else. It is pretty. The model on the left shows three colors: six yellowish small pentamers, each surrounded by five flower-petal-like clear chains, and pink triangle-ish chains between them. (The clear chains are actually split up into bluish-clear and whitish-clear, but that's not obvious in the picture.)
September 4, 2025 at 11:43 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Another glowball color test.

What do you think is stored in its molecular counterpart? The answer may surprise you!

#3dThursday #MicroSky
A backlit plastic model of a somewhat spherical macromolecule (cut in half). Three colors are shown: five yellowish small pentamers, each surrounded by five flower-petal-like clear chains, and pink triangle-ish chains between them. (The clear chains are actually split up into bluish-clear and whitish-clear, but that's not obvious in the picture.)
September 4, 2025 at 10:13 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
I didn't think these colors would go together well; I felt pretty silly starting this print, but I was in a hurry and prototyping is prototyping--I'm so glad to be wrong!! It's a #3dThursday miracle!

(www.rcsb.org/3d-view/6JJD/1)
Half of a glowball, about 2" in diameter and backlit in the dark. It is a model of a virus-like particle from a nodavirus that causes white tail disease in prawns. It is printed in three colors: a greenish star/pentamer (of which there are 6 visible in the picture); translucent ice blue blades that jut out from each green pentamer to form five-pointed stars, and light blue everywhere else. It is pretty.
August 29, 2025 at 3:11 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Did I mention they glow in the dark, or was that merely implied?
A hand holding two models of a larval fruit fly nervous system, each about an inch long, glowing green in the dark.
August 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
This #3dThursday I'm thinking about Linus Pauling, because--well--um...I mean...just--

...for no reason in particular, of course
Two identical models, shown at different angles, of a proposed molecular structure. Each is about the size of a tennis ball. Gray, blue, red, white, and orange atoms are shown. (I kind of want to let people guess what it is.)
August 21, 2025 at 6:48 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Another day, another glowball--I shouldn't be surprised, but always am, at what a drastic difference color choice makes. Each print is a completely new animal.

Someday I'll be able to print each of the 5 chains in its own color, as nature intended...

#FluorescenceFriday ( #PhosphorescencePhriday?)
A small 3D print, backlit by a cell phone, showing the suspiciously-virus-shaped form Arc takes (see https://pdb101.rcsb.org/motm/308 for more). Its chains are printed in light yellowish (raised pentagon, there are 6 shown in this view), clear (a 5-pointed star around each pentagon), and light blue (everything else). The same print, in the dark. The pentagons now glow bright green, and the clear stars surrounding each pentagon pick up a little bit of that glow. The same structure, in the dark, except this time the glow-in-the-dark part is the star, and the pentagon in the middle is a little darker. The same structure, backlit by a phone flashlight; the pentagons are blue, the surrounding stars are green, and everything else is yellow.
August 15, 2025 at 7:21 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
If you're in the Milwaukee area (including Chicago...), come visit the models! When teachers aren't here for summer workshops, they get so lonely...

And you must talk to them. Tell them they are pretty models, and good models.

(Just ask for a tour at 3dmoleculardesigns.com/contact-us)
#3dThursday
A table full of models showing tRNA, ribosomes, and associates. (And also a GLP-1 receptor and a handful of water molecules, because everybody's gotta be somewhere.) Behind the table is a "Life is Complicated" poster, and in the distance is a wall display holding more models. 5 display shelves loaded with all sorts of molecular models. Some molecules are hanging from the ceiling. More shelves packed with models. So many models. Four more shelves, and a couple tables, showing even more molecular models. And no, these pictures do not show all the models in the building.
August 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
If not for eats, why is it made of colors?
#3dThursday
A hand holding a plaster buckyball model. The model is about the size of a baseball, each atom is about the size of the tip of my thumb, and the color scheme is very everlasting-gobstopper-like.
August 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
This Jmol glitch art is so pretty I don't want to fix it
A swooshy ribbon diagram of a salmonella phage, except it's all scattered and funky with random bits everywhere. Helices and sheets are light purple, and everything else is white, against a black background. It kind of has a texture like thick frosting. If you squint.
August 13, 2025 at 3:13 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Eyeball snack: Arc makes a fine glowball
A hand, in the dark, holding a plastic model of a suspiciously-virus-like structure formed by an Arc homolog (see MOTM link above). Different chains have been printed in different colors, resulting in six green glowing five-pointed stars (each with a darker pentameric center) separated by jagged streaks of black. It looks cool.
August 7, 2025 at 6:16 AM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
I had to print it just to see for myself--I combined some chains into the same color to save print time--but dang! Arc is, as my boss put it, super bonkers!
A 3D print of the suspiciously-virus-shaped form Arc takes (described in the molecule of the month article linked above). Its chains are printed in blue (raised pentagon, there are 6 shown in this view), teal (a 5-pointed star around each pentagon), and yellow (everything else).
August 4, 2025 at 11:49 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
#RNAday! Happy RNA Day to #RNAsky and associates!

We love RNA for its absolute commitment to freakiness and chaos, but one of these freaky little weirdos is actually DNA. Which one do you think it is?
Four line diagrams of different models. 3 models show RNA, and one shows DNA. For each model, multiple conformers have been laid on top of each other so the resulting image is kind of fuzzy and spiky.
August 1, 2025 at 7:05 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Searching my notes for 'path' for reasons, and up comes this evergreen reminder
A screenshot of a notes document. The text reads: Save as GFP_11-15_v0_sameas_GFP-from-magics-v10_v4 Make a mental note to never criticize anyone’s naming conventions ever again; except from a place of empathy and support
July 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
hoxinsocks.bsky.social
Cerebellar sunset
The same picture as in the first two posts, but with different color backgrounds added to make its top half orange-yellow and its bottom half blue. Here is the description of the first picture: A hand holding a backlit circular lithophane in a Petri dish. The lithophane shows a cerebellar section from figure 2 of chapter 6 of Ramon y Cajal's Recuerdos de mi Vida. The bottom half(ish) of the lithophane is striped horizontally with parallel fibers; a blue background has been added there to make the parallel fibers look more like waves.
July 15, 2025 at 1:28 AM