History

This project is all about starting iCn3D, a cool web-based tool that was started in 2015 by some NIH scientists to visualize and analyze 3D protein structures. It’s open-source, super user-friendly, and lets researchers and students share molecular scenes instantly online, which got a big boost during the pandemic for studying viral proteins and incorporating new tools through hackathons. Now, with about 15,000 daily users and new AI tools like AlphaFold pumping out protein data, the team wants to grow iCn3D into a thriving open-source ecosystem. We're setting up an organization thanks to the NSF (grant URL) to support ongoing development, encourage community contributions, and keep it sustainable beyond just the NIH, so everyone from researchers to educators can keep using and improving it.