Chemically-inspired works of art: fun posters to educate public on medicine

April 1, 2015

"Extenal LinkOne in Every Home" series, a project managed by the Extenal LinkMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) marks its tenth anniversary since its first release of posters to raise public engagement of science, and also to increase their understanding and literacy of science and technology. One idea is chosen annually out of the proposals collected from all over Japan. This year, a poster entitled "One in Every Home: Shapes of Medicines," planned and supervised by Motonari Uesugi, Professor at Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), was selected to be widely distributed across Japanese public schools.

The poster features 18 types of drugs that highlight the chemical structure of the molecular compound of each drug, with illustrations inspired by the chemical structures drawn next to them. The poster offers a fun way for students to learn about the relationship between the medicine and the chemical structure through stories behind the illustrations to explain the effect of the drug.

Illustration ideas were generated through Kyoto University's online course "The Chemistry of Life," taught by Prof. Uesugi at "Extenal LinkedX", an internet-based course provider that offers lectures by world-leading universities with free of charge. The course was the first to be offered on edX by a Japanese university; approximately 20,000 students world-wide attended. During the course, Uesugi asked students to submit illustrations inspired by the chemical structures of the drugs. 18 illustrations were chosen out of the total 2,780 that were collected, which were redrawn by professional illustrators for the poster.

"I hope children who see this poster will grow up to be scientists, and develop new medicines for incurable diseases" said Uesugi. Extenal LinkNaoko Tosa, a professor at the Institute for Inf "[this poster] can possibly change the outlook of those who dislike chemistry like me."

Currently, 240,000 copies are being printed to be distributed at the beginning of next month to over 40,000 schools including elementary, junior high, and high schools, and to science museums and organizations. It will also be available for free download from April 1st at Extenal Linkthe project website.


Uesugi presenting illustrations generated by edX students

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