Fascinating Journey inside the human cell

What does the human cell look like from the inside? How does a virus infect a cell and ultimately cause cell death? ICGEB has developed an immersive experience to take you on a fascinating journey.

Isaac Asimov had already imagined this in one of his most compelling novels. It was 1966 when the science fiction and robotics writer brought out “Fascinating Journey,” in which a group of researchers - miniaturised to the size of a bacteria - are injected into the blood system of a scientist to travel to his brain and to save him from a blood clot. Drawing inspiration from this journey, researchers at the ICGEB devised a software application to bring people closer to the complex world of the cell.

The project: “Fascinating Journey into the Human Cell” has been developed with the contribution of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and tested with partner institutes, and high schools in Trieste and neighboring Gorizia.

To popularise science, the researchers present the software and guide users into the parallel universe of the metaverse.

The software makes the experience realistic and in line with state-of-the-art scientific knowledge of the human cell. At present, it is available in Italian and English, however, we are also exploring the possibility of having it translated into Spanish and Chinese, due to interest expressed by scientists for public engagement.