Art of the Personalized Oncogenomics Program
How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.
— Isaac Asimov, The Roving Mind (Ch 25)
I've prepared posters in three popular size formats: 11" × 14", 50 cm × 50 cm and 50 cm × 70 cm.
All artwork is available in PDF and PNG format. Click on the button on the top-right of the image to download these files. All files include 1/8" bleed. For printing, use the PDFs.
The PNG bitmap is provided for convenience and rastered at 600 dpi with 1/8" bleed (75 pixel margin on all sides). For example, the 11" × 14" bitmap has width 11.25 × 600 = 6,750 and height 14.25 × 600 = 8,550.
An explanation of how these images were generated, along with a printable legend, is available in the Methods section.
These posters are designed to fit a standard 11" × 14" frame.
These posters are fit to 50 cm × 70 cm and fit into inexpensive Strömby frames at IKEA.
The bigmap is 600 dpi (artboard 11,811 × 16,535 pixels) with 1/8" bleed (75 pixel margin on all sides).
These posters are fit to 50 cm × 50 cm and fit into inexpensive Strömby frames at IKEA.
You can print this poster to any square frame but keep in mind that if you shrink it down too much, the text may not be legible. At size, the text is 6.7 pt, which can be read comfortably. I would avoid printing the poster smaller than 30 cm × 30cm, which would have text of 4 pt in size.
The bigmap is 600 dpi (artboard 11,811 × 16,535 pixels) with 1/8" bleed (75 pixel margin on all sides).
This is the standard postcard size. The bitmap is 600 dpi (artboard 2,400 × 3,600 pixels) with 1/8" bleed (75 pixel margin on all sides).
Neural network primer
Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. —Francis Bacon
In the first of a series of columns about neural networks, we introduce them with an intuitive approach that draws from our discussion about logistic regression.
Simple neural networks are just a chain of linear regressions. And, although neural network models can get very complicated, their essence can be understood in terms of relatively basic principles.
We show how neural network components (neurons) can be arranged in the network and discuss the ideas of hidden layers. Using a simple data set we show how even a 3-neuron neural network can already model relatively complicated data patterns.
Derry, A., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2023) Points of significance: Neural network primer. Nature Methods 20.
Background reading
Lever, J., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2016) Points of significance: Logistic regression. Nature Methods 13:541–542.
Cell Genomics cover
Our cover on the 11 January 2023 Cell Genomics issue depicts the process of determining the parent-of-origin using differential methylation of alleles at imprinted regions (iDMRs) is imagined as a circuit.
Designed in collaboration with with Carlos Urzua.
Akbari, V. et al. Parent-of-origin detection and chromosome-scale haplotyping using long-read DNA methylation sequencing and Strand-seq (2023) Cell Genomics 3(1).
Browse my gallery of cover designs.
Science Advances cover
My cover design on the 6 January 2023 Science Advances issue depicts DNA sequencing read translation in high-dimensional space. The image showss 672 bases of sequencing barcodes generated by three different single-cell RNA sequencing platforms were encoded as oriented triangles on the faces of three 7-dimensional cubes.
More details about the design.
Kijima, Y. et al. A universal sequencing read interpreter (2023) Science Advances 9.
Browse my gallery of cover designs.
Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring
If you sit on the sofa for your entire life, you’re running a higher risk of getting heart disease and cancer. —Alex Honnold, American rock climber
In a follow-up to our Survival analysis — time-to-event data and censoring article, we look at how regression can be used to account for additional risk factors in survival analysis.
We explore accelerated failure time regression (AFTR) and the Cox Proportional Hazards model (Cox PH).
Dey, T., Lipsitz, S.R., Cooper, Z., Trinh, Q., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2022) Points of significance: Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring. Nature Methods 19.
Music video for Max Cooper's Ascent
My 5-dimensional animation sets the visual stage for Max Cooper's Ascent from the album Unspoken Words. I have previously collaborated with Max on telling a story about infinity for his Yearning for the Infinite album.
I provide a walkthrough the video, describe the animation system I created to generate the frames, and show you all the keyframes
The video recently premiered on YouTube.
Renders of the full scene are available as NFTs.
Gene Cultures exhibit — art at the MIT Museum
I am more than my genome and my genome is more than me.
The MIT Museum reopened at its new location on 2nd October 2022. The new Gene Cultures exhibit featured my visualization of the human genome, which walks through the size and organization of the genome and some of the important structures.
