Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Emmy-winning entertainment company Zoic Studios has pivoted its expertise in crafting dynamic visuals for television, films and commercials to provide interactive data visualizations to scientists racing to find a cure for the pervasive pandemic. The studio’s software and advanced visualization sister company, Zoic Labs, partnered with the world-renowned Krogan Labs at the University of San Francisco to develop an interactive data visualization tool in conjunction with their scientific paper, “A SARS-CoV-2 Protein Interaction Map Reveals Targets for Drug-Repurposing,” that was just published in Nature. The Krogan Lab, based at the Quantitative Biosciences Institute at UCSF, is collaborating with scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

The tool, available HERE, allows scientists around the world to share their findings and provides visual connections between the 27 SARS-CoV-2 proteins and the 332 human genes they interact with, lending a wealth of information about each gathered through research. The tool also provides in-depth knowledge about all current drug interactions and their statuses, and links to external sources for additional information about the virus proteins.

Zoic Labs was born from a passion for exploration and discovery at the intersection of technology, science and entertainment, but this was the first time the company teamed up with a scientific lab to allow scientists worldwide a more dynamic way to interact with this vital research. Frequently working with a diverse range of private companies and the U.S. Intelligence Community and Department of Defense, the Zoic Labs team was invigorated with the opportunity to be a part of the imperative race for a cure and was able to create this tool in just three weeks.

After shifting to a remote workflow during COVID-19, Zoic Studios has remained busy, producing VFX for 30 projects including Fargo, SEE, Stargirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, NOS4A2 and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Past projects out of the studio include Game of Thrones, Warrior, Arrow, True Blood, and Firefly. While maintaining their core business throughout a negatively impacted entertainment and media industry has been a top priority, the team at Zoic Labs has been invigorated with the opportunity to collaborate with scientists on the front lines of halting this pandemic.