Clostridium tetani and Tetanus Maja Divjak 2017-05-23 | Note: This production has been uploaded again to improve quality. Original views totalled 259. Please view at 720pMovement of our voluntary muscles is controlled by our central nervous system. This animation describes the process of infection with Clostridium tetani and how the toxin it releases interrupts nervous control of our muscles, leading to tetanus. This loss of muscle control causes the convulsive muscle spasms typical of tetanus, which are so severe they can cause bone fractures and dislocations. Death often occurs due to respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. With adequate immunisation, tetanus is a completely preventable disease. However in developing nations, without comprehensive vaccination programmes, tetanus remains one of the top ten causes of death. Universal vaccination, including pregnant women, is vital to preventing this terrible affliction.Design and animation by Dr. Maja Divjak, GTACThank you to Dr David Donovan, co-founder of New Foundations Medical Mission for footage of the baby with tetanus. For more information on New Foundations, visit www.newfoundations.org.ukThis animation was created for the Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne, Australia www.gtac.edu.au
CAR-T Cells: Engineered Cancer Killers, Mechanism of Action Maja Divjak 2025-01-23 | Chimeric Antigen Receptor, or CAR-T cell therapy, is a revolutionary treatment for blood cancers such as leukaemias and lymphomas. The process involves engineering a patient’s own immune T cells to express Chimeric Antigen Receptors, or CARs on the cell surface. When the CAR-T cells are re-infused into the patient, they multiply rapidly and the CARs enable them to specifically seek and destroy cancer cells throughout the body. For some patients this has proven to be a miracle treatment when all other options have been exhausted. This production explains how cancer cells can avoid detection by our immune cells. We then learn how our immune cells can be super charged by CAR-T technology and how this works at the molecular and cellular levels using 3D animation and ground-breaking microscopy techniques.This production won the Premier Award and the Medical Education Award in the Interactive Learning and Website division at BioImages 22, a visual media competition showcasing the life sciences and medicine, by the BioCommunications Association.
CAR-T Cells: Engineered Cancer Killers Maja Divjak 2022-11-16 | Awards• Visualisation Competition winner, Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre Visualisation Conference 2024• Gold award, General Science and Technology, Telly Awards 2024• Official Selection, SCINEMA International Science Film Festival 2023• Best in Show for both Science and Health categories, Doctors Without Borders Film Festival 2022The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is a unique Australian institution consisting of a world-leading cancer research program integrated within a world-leading cancer hospital.Based on 25 years of research, we are the only site in Australia with TGA approval to manufacture commercial CAR-T cells for clinical studies and one of a handful of sites offering standard of care CAR-T cell therapy for treatment of blood cancers such as leukaemias and lymphomas. The process involves engineering a patient’s own T cells to express Chimeric Antigen Receptors, or CARs on the cell surface.When the CAR-T cells are re-infused into the patient, they multiply rapidly and the CARs enable them to specifically seek and destroy cancer cells throughout the body. For some patients this has proven to be a miracle treatment when all other options have been exhausted.This production explains how cancer cells can avoid detection by our immune cells. We then learn how our immune cells can be super charged by CAR-T technology to kill cancer cells and how this works at the molecular and cellular levels using 3D animation and ground-breaking microscopy techniques.The production informs patients and the interested lay person about this unique technology and the great progress made by Peter Mac scientists into understanding cancer biology and developing revolutionary treatments, such as CAR-T cells, to combat cancer.
Intro to Chimeric Antigen Receptors- Trailer for CAR-T Cells: Engineered Cancer Killers Maja Divjak 2022-02-24 | This animation is an introductory trailer for our soon to be released 3D animation, 'CAR-T Cells: Engineered Cancer Killers'. This production is a scientifically accurate explanation of this revolutionary new cancer treatment. The trailer gives a brief explanation of the structure of chimeric antigen receptors or 'CARs' and how these work to kill cancer cells.© Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Dr Maja Divjak, 2022. This video (or part thereof) cannot be reproduced or used outside of this YouTube channel without the permission of the copyright owner, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
What Goes Wrong in Cancer? Maja Divjak 2020-12-10 | Awards• Jury Award, Professional Animation- Short, Raw Science Film Festival 2020• Platinum Remi Award, Medical/Health/Fitness/Wellness, World-Fest Houston International Film Festival 2020• Awards of Exceptional Excellence for Science, Animated and Health categories, Doctors Without Borders Film Festival 2020• Official Selection, Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2020The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is a Melbourne institution and world leader in cancer research, treatment and diagnostics. It is Australia's only hospital solely dedicated to the overarching theme of cancer. Our award-winning Peter Mac biomedical animation reveals the invisible molecular world within our cells and how this finely tuned world can occasionally become disrupted, leading to cancer.We hope this animation will enable cancer patients and the interested lay person to understand some of the molecular and cellular processes at play in cancer and so connect with their own bodies and biology.The four animations following, including 'The Role of p53 in Cancer' , 'DNA Damage and Repair', 'The Role of KRas in Cancer' and 'The Role of BRCA1 in Cancer' are excerpts taken from this flagship animation.
The Role of p53 in Cancer Maja Divjak 2020-03-02 | p53 is a sentinel protein recruited rapidly in response to DNA damage. p53 slides along the DNA until it finds a critical site, to which it binds. p53 then sends the message, to halt cell division until DNA is repaired, or If damage is too severe, the cell is destroyed. p53 is therefore known as the ‘guardian of the genome.’ A tiny change in p53 results in a structure that is unable to securely bind to the critical site. This means no decisions can be made about whether to repair DNA or destroy the cell. Without functional p53, cells can accumulate more and more DNA damage, possibly leading to cancer.
DNA Damage and Repair Maja Divjak 2020-03-02 | DNA provides the blueprint to create proteins, which are the building blocks of our body. Remarkably, we are subject to vast amounts of DNA damage everyday due to environmental agents and even the byproducts of metabolism. This DNA damage can occur in a variety of different forms. Most of the time our cells do a very good job of dealing with DNA damage and have complex processes in place to repair it.
The Role of KRas in Cancer Maja Divjak 2020-03-01 | KRas is a protein that controls how often a cell divides. To do this it needs to be switched on before it can turn on cell division pathways. When no longer needed, it is then turned off. A tiny alteration in KRas leads to a protein that is always switched on. This means that the cell division pathways are also constantly switched on. In this situation, cells are more likely to multiply outside the normal limits controlling cell division, leading to formation of tumours.
The Role of BRCA1 in Cancer Maja Divjak 2020-02-29 | BRCA1 is an integral protein in the DNA repair pathway. Inherited alterations in the structure of BRCA1 cause interruption of the DNA repair process, which over time, lead to accumulation of more and more DNA damage in cells. This greatly increases the risk for cancer. Women afflicted with these inherited changes in BRCA1 face a lifetime of constant surveillance and medical intervention to fight the possibility of cancer developing. At the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, we are at the forefront of research into the myriad mechanisms causing cancer. We also provide the world's best cancer diagnostics, care, medical advice and management and psychological support.
Student Animation of Cell Division and Cell Death Maja Divjak 2020-02-18 | This animation was created by students of Shepparton ACE and Shelford Girls' Grammar, Melbourne and is the result of an interactive workshop led by Dr Maja Divjak at the Arts Learning Festival 2019.https://artslearningfestival.com.au/. Using the same 3D software used in Hollywood cinema productions, students learnt to animate the processes of cell division and cell death. Biology meets art, meets digital media.
The Specialised Function of the Ciliated Epithelium Maja Divjak 2016-06-20 | Please view at 720p. This animation describes the normal function of the ciliated airway epithelium. Foreign bodies we inhale, such as dust, pollen and microbes become trapped in mucous, which is brushed up and out of the airways by the waving cilia. This animation was created for the Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne, Australia www.gtac.edu.au
Bordetella Pertussis and Whooping Cough Maja Divjak 2016-04-07 | Please view at 720p. This animation describes the process of infection of the airways by Bordetella Pertussis, a bacterium which causes whooping cough. It specifically details how the bacterium damages ciliated airway cells, impairing normal respiratory function, leading to the severe coughing fits characteristic of whooping cough. Vaccination is vital to protect against this highly contagious disease, not only for ourselves, but also to protect those who cannot tolerate vaccination.Thank you to Sonya Pemberton, Creative Director of Genepool Productions for use of whooping cough footage from the documentary 'Jabbed- love, fear and vaccines'. For more information on 'Jabbed- love, fear and vaccines' please visit www.genepoolproductions.comThis animation was created for the Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne, Australia (www.gtac.edu.au) and officially selected for the Raw Science Film Festival 2016. This animation won an Award of Exceptional Merit for Environmental/Health PSA and Viewer Impact: Content/Message Delivery categories and an Award of Excellence for SFX Animation at the Doctors Without Borders Film Festival 2017. This animation also won the Warren Sturgis Motion Media Award and a Citation of Merit in the Motion Media: Video category at BioImages 2017.
