December 11, 2012Belmont Media Center

Bang Wong Creative Director, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

We depend on visual representation for science concepts and data to make this kind of information more comprehensible. Science illustration is art in the service of science. The experts who do that visual translating are essential to scientific communication --and to science literacy. One of the best in the field is Bang Wong, Creative Director at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Bang Wong is probably best known for his design of the famous DNAtrium at the Broad Institute, the interactive display that makes genetics accessible and engaging. Other examples of his creative approach to science visualization include the 3-D Phylogenetic Tree mobile and the DataStream display, both irresistible attractions at the Broad Institute.

A leading innovator in the illustration of genetic processes and data, Bang Wong routinely makes very difficult material accessible to both experts and nonspecialists. His work is everywhere: on display at the Broad Institute near MIT, on PBS's Nova, and in major professional journals. In his December 11 lecture, he discusses the importance of science visualization and the great possibilities for such representation that are made possible by new technologies.

Wong's visualizations for Nova Science Now
Bang Wong's Genome Sequencing Video
Five Questions for Bang Wong at the Broadarticle on Bang Wong in Nature Medicine
Bang Wong's IEEE presentation