Troubleshooting and FAQ:

What are Chime and/or JMol tutorials?

The many molecular structures solved by scientists provide an excellent educational/presentation tool to communicate how many biological processes work.  The coordinates for solved structures (often in .pdb or .xyz file format) are available all over the web, and there are just as many visualization programs available.  Although these visualization programs allow complex visual manipulation of the molecular structure, many find that the programs are not so user-friendly, especially for students who simply want to explore general characteristics of a complex.  Chime and JMol tutorials allow visualization and manipulation of molecular structures through a internet browser interface.  Often complemented with animated scripts and detailed descriptions, these tutorials are self-guided lessons intended to help the viewer understand the structural and functional characteristics of the complex.

How do I view Chime and/or JMol tutorials?

Chime is a free program offered by MDL.  Download is free from www.mdl.com after registration on their site.  Although Chime is avaiable for both Mac and PC platforms, the program has not been updated for compatibility with more recent operating systems.  You can Google for instructions on how to install Chime for Firefox and other popular browsers.

JMol is an open-source program intended to replace Chime.  Information on JMol is available on www.jmol.org.  JMol is a Java based program and does not require a separate download or program to be installed on the viewer's computer.  It is compatible with both Mac and PC operating systems.  Most common problems associated with JMol seems to be browsers with old versions of the Java engine.  Make sure you have the most recent Java program installed on your computer (www.java.com).

The structures do not appear on my web browser and/or the buttons to run scripts do not work.

Most common problems associated with JMol seems to be browsers with old versions of the Java engine.  Make sure you have the most recent Java program installed on your computer (www.java.com).

Use Firefox!  Stop using Internet Explorer!