project info

CELLmicrocosmos is an integrative cell modeling and stereoscopic 3D visualization project operating on three different cytological levels: the mesoscopic level, the molecular, and the functional level. Each of these levels is represented by one of the following sub projects:

These sub projects apply different Bioinformatics-related approaches to support the user to generate fast results. The implementation in Java/Java3D enables an easy installation process on a large number of operating systems. Each sub project is or will be released as open source tool after its major publication.

This project was started at the Bio-/Medical Informatics Department of Bielefeld University by Björn Sommer and is pushed forward by a growing number of students and cooperations.

The initial idea of CELLmicrocosmos was the interactive stereoscopic visualization of biological cells for a better understanding of their internal structures and their functioning. Based on microscopic datasets, biological cells are reconstructed in 3D models. Via Virtual Reality (VR) techniques they can be explored interactively for educational and scientific purposes.

Short timeline

The following paragraph shows only a short overview of milestones. A more complete timeline can be found here.

2004 the first result of this project was finished: the bachelor project, under supervision of Dr. Dieter Lorenz. To learn more about it, please visit the theses section.

Since 2005 there has been a number of different courses with many participants, which developed different tools for the interactive exploration of cell models. You can learn more about it at the courses section.

At the end of September 2006, the master thesis CELLmicrocosmos - Interactive 3D-Visualization had been finished. Some results can be found at the master thesis page.

Since this time, a number of student projects and student theses have extended this project.

The first summary of the CELLmicrocosmos project can be found in the PhD thesis of Björn Sommer: Integrative cell modeling at the molecular, mesoscopic and functional level.

NIKE AIR HUARACHE