Models at the Movies
Indigo® Instruments isn't only about supplying scientific kit to
schools technicians, homeschoolers and students doing their science
fair project. No! A fair few molecular models and countless other items
have made their way to Hollywood, got themselves on the small screen
and featured in some offbeat web experiments.
VP Stephan Logan explains how Rob Cohen's 2005 movie "Stealth" is
described on the Internet Movie Database as "Surprisingly enjoyable".
Why? Because a plot line based on three pilots deeply ensconced in a
top-secret military program struggling to bring an artificial
intelligence program under control before it initiates WWIII sounds
just so unsurprising. The movie features intense action, violence and
innuendo. But, far more excitingly it also features a 17-layer DNA
model from Indigo. So, for what was it those pilots needed a model of
DNA? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.
One of Indigo's "anatomically correct" 12-layer DNA models also
features in the current hit movie "Fantastic Four." In this marvelous
piece of cinema, a group of astronauts gain superpowers after being
exposed to cosmic radiation (yeah, right!) and are destined to use them
in fighting the world-dominating plans of the evil Doctor Victor Von
Doom. They couldn't have thought of a more corny name for the villain,
but at least the DNA molecular model used in the movie is
scientifically accurate, having been built to the highest
specifications by Indigo's Logan himself.
Once again, superheroes are the subject of another movie to feature
molecular model kits supplied to Hollywood by Indigo Instruments. In
"Return of Zoom", a movie based on the graphic novel "Zoom's Academy
for the Super Gifted" by Jason Lethcoe, an unpopular high school girl
sent to superhero school by her "mysterious" father and discovers her
hidden talents (a la Harry Potter, methinks). The makers of this movie,
also utilized a DNA model from Indigo to reveal the inner workings of
human genetics at the molecular level. Unfortunately, for Indigo's
image, the director asked for the model to be specially made so that it
would fall apart easily. Don't ask why, you'll have to go see the
movie. Needless to say, any models you buy from Indigo Instruments will
be made to far more exacting standards and are guaranteed not to fall
apart!
Stepping back from the superheroes, Indigo® Instruments was proud also
to provide a whole series of chemical models for the making of Eddie
Murphy blockbuster, "The Nutty Professor". Mineral models including a
huge zeolite model and a model of the structure of diamond were used to
great effect in the movie as Professor Sherman Klump, desperately
trying to lose weight, takes a chemical cocktail that morphs him into
the slimly obnoxious Buddy Love. The mineral models feature prominently
as classic examples of Klump's laboratory equipment.
Molecular models from Indigo Instruments have not only caught
Hollywood's eye, but arthouse directors have turned to Indigo
Instruments to supply them with molecular models too. So, Indigo can
now lay claim to having appeared at the Toronto Film Festival.
DNA and other molecular models from Indigo, have also hit the small
screen in TV crime show "Law & Order", in sci-fi classic "Stargate
Atlantis", and on CBS News during the celebrations of the 50th
anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA.
It's not just the entertainment industry that is fascinated by Indigo's
DNA models. "We've also sold a 17-layer DNA model to such organizations
as Bell Labs, IBM, and even shipped one to Erasmus University Hospital
in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where the SARS virus was first
identified," says Indigo SD Stephan Logan. In addition NASA lesson
plans such as their magnets and life lesson cites Indigo Instruments as
a useful source of powerful rare earth magnets. Images from Indigo®
Instruments have been used on countless lecture tours and in science
demonstrations including those by staff at Wisha University. A chemical
flask from Indigo has even been adapted to make a heliograph, or sun
tracker.
"We have sold DNA models to lawyers for court cases involving patent
issues," adds Logan, "major museums and institutions, such as the Bill
Clinton Museum, Howard Hughes Medical Center, Walter Reed Army
Hospital, US Naval Academy, Harvard University, New York University and
elsewhere, also have our DNA models and others on display."
Intriguingly, even the infamous Martha Stewart has bought glassware
from Indigo, in the form of test tubes and Erlenmeyer flasks for use in
floral arrangements.
