<p><strong>The most detailed 3-D model yet of the HIV virus won first place for illustrations in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.</strong></p><p>Sponsored jointly by the journal <em><a id="yjwr" title="Science" href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a></em> and the <a id="aqau" title="National Science Foundation" href="http://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>, the annual competition awards entries that "engage people worldwide and convey science close up in novel and visually stimulating ways," according to a statement. Judging criteria include visual impact, effective communication, freshness, and originality. (<a id="xmvn" title="See some of the 2009 winners." href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/photogalleries/100218-best-science-pictures/">See some of the 2009 winners.</a>)</p><p>A Russian team led by Ivan Konstantinov analyzed data from more than a hundred scientific journals to digitally depict HIV as close to the real thing as possible. The two-tone color scheme shows HIV (orange) attacking and fusing with an immune cell (gray). The triangular cut-away shows how the virus integrates itself to turn the cell into a virus factory. (<a id="bbjp" title="Get the facts on AIDS." href="http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/aids-article/">Get the facts on AIDS.</a>)</p><p>"We consider such 3-D models as a new way to present and promote scientific data about ubiquitous human viruses," Konstantinov, of the <a id="l:dr" title="Visual Science Company" href="http://visualscience.ru/en/illustrations/modelling/hiv/">Visual Science Company</a>, said in a statement.</p>