The Big Time and the Small Scale—ASCB’s Celldance Studios Unveils Three Microscopic Blockbuster Films

Come see three very short, very beautiful films about the swirling world inside our cells. Hear the scientists who explore this world tell their own cell stories at Celldance 2014. Illustration by Johnny Chang

Come see three very short, very beautiful films about the swirling world inside our cells. Hear the scientists who explore this world tell their own cell stories at Celldance 2014. Illustration by Johnny Chang

A very tiny red carpet is ready. The paparazzi are gathering as a daring experiment in communicating cell biology comes to the test—who will watch the three “Tell Your Own Cell Story” videos commissioned by Celldance Studios, a.k.a. the ASCB’s Public Information Committee (PIC)? Dubbed “microscopic blockbusters,” the three short videos will premiere online from the 2014 ASCB/IFCB meeting on Monday, December 8, and in person at the meeting on Tuesday, December 9.

The films are “Killing Cancer: Cytotoxic T-Cells on Patrol” by Alex Ritter, NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program; “Companions in Discovery” by Amy Gladfelter, Dartmouth; and “Cell Repair” by Bill Bement, University of Wisconsin, Madison. The three films, which run from just under three minutes to just over six, have original music soundtracks scored by Hollywood film composer Ted Masur.

The idea of commissioning working cell biologists to make a film about their own research was a bold break this year for Celldance, explained PIC Chair Simon Atkinson. PIC started Celldance as a microscope video contest in 2005. The original idea, Atkinson explained, was to capture some of the fantastic microscope video that is a hallmark of modern cell biology and put it before the public as well as other scientists. Celldance winners presented some visually dazzling imagery over the years but the committee felt it was time for a fresh approach, Atkinson said.

It was PIC’s Celldance subcommittee chair Duane Compton who came up with the idea of directly commissioning a small number of films from ASCB member labs and then providing post-production services, according to Atkinson. “Duane said we should directly approach some of the labs run by ASCB members who were known for their advanced imaging and ask them for sample video and a story proposal. Duane also said we should throw the commission process open to all ASCB member labs.” Thus was born Celldance Studios. “We had a number of amazing proposals from ASCB member labs. Picking three wasn’t easy,” said Atkinson. “We only gave each lab a $1,000 budget but, as they say in Hollywood, they put the money on the screen.”

Beyond the $1,000 in direct underwriting, ASCB supplied post-production support from ASCB’s iBiology videographer Eric Kornblum in San Francisco and from ASCB staff in Bethesda. Ted Masur, the composer of the original scores for all three films, comes by his interest in cell biology honestly. His mother is the noted cell biologist, Sandra Masur, who is a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City and serves as chair of ASCB’s Women in Cell Biology Committee. Growing up, Ted Masur recalls that cell biology was like the family business, often discussed around the dinner table. He was always interested in science but his interest and talent for music led Masur in another direction. Being asked to score the Celldance commissions was a chance to touch base, Masur says.

Even though it wasn’t planned this way, says Atkinson, the three “Tell Your Own Cell Story” videos demonstrate three different approaches to the challenge of making cell biology visible to the world. Atkinson explains, “Alex’s video, “Killing Cancer,” has some of the most advanced—and most exciting—cell imaging in the world. Alex is in Gillian Griffith’s Cambridge (UK) lab, which has revolutionized our concept of the role of secretion in immune cells like the cytotoxic T-cells that star in this video.” Ritter has also worked in the U.S. with two cutting-edge imaging labs, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz’s at NIH and Eric Betzig’s group at HHMI’s Janelia Farm Research Campus. “Eric just won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year for his work on superresolution imaging so it doesn’t get much more cutting edge than that.”

Amy Gladfelter’s “Companions in Discovery” follows her lab’s investigations into the physical properties of cellular proteins by using the fungus, Ashbya, as a lab model. “Amy’s video is both beautiful to watch on an aesthetic level and beautiful to watch as an illustration of how simple model organisms like Ashbya can give us insights into human diseases like Alzheimer’s,” Atkinson continues. “I also like the end of the film where members of her lab talk briefly on camera. It’s good to see the real faces of lab scientists. These young faces are the future of cell biology.”

The third film, “Cell Repair,” puts the viewer at the lab bench, says Atkinson. Bill Bement’s film starts with the premise that everyone knows how tissue like our skin heals but no one knows much about how individual cells heal themselves. “It’s like sharing a microscope with Bill while he’s working and explaining what he’s doing and what you’re seeing,” says Atkinson, “Experimental design is a tough topic to explain to non-scientists, but Bill shows you how this experiment gets at something at the microscopic scale that has huge dimensions in human health.”

About the Author:


John Fleischman was the ASCB Senior Science Writer from 2000 to 2016. Best unpaid perk of the job? Working with new grad students and Nobel Prize winners.