Structural biologists, let’s mind our colors

Abstract

Abstract

In structural biology, most figures of macromolecules are aimed at those well-versed in structure, requiring prior familiarity with scales and commonly used color schemes. Yet, as structural biology becomes democratized with the increasing pace of structure determination, the accessibility of structural data is paramount. Here, we identify three keys, and have written accompanying software plugins, for structural biologists to create figures truer to the hard-won data and clearer across different modes of color vision and to non-expert readers.

1. Use perceptually uniform colormaps

2. Consider readers with different modes of color vision

3. Be explicit about scales and color usage

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

* https://github.com/smsaladi/pymol_viridis

* https://github.com/smsaladi/chimerax_viridis

* https://github.com/smsaladi/vmd_viridis

* https://github.com/smsaladi/structure_scales