70S bacterial ribosome

Great for teaching translation - 3D printed model of the 70S bacterial ribosome complete with mRNA, tRNAs and the emerging peptide chain. The two ribosomal subunits (large – violet and small – yellow) can be separated revealing the A,P and E sites. The mRNA, tRNAs and the emerging peptide chain are printed in TPU and can be removed and placed back with ease. Ribosomal proteins of both subunits were printed as surface representations, while rRNAs as cartoon and can be distinguished upon careful examination.

The model is based on the atomic coordinates from PDB ID 7K00 described in

https://elifesciences.org/articles/60482

This was a truly monster print. The stl files took a few days to process, and printing itself took 3 days 1 h 56 min for the small subunit and 4 days 5h 39 min for the large subunits. More than 1.5 kg of PLA were required.