Roughly a decade ago, cancer researcher Bryan Welm took a welding class with his daughter. Initially, he envisioned using his new skills to build practical items, such as tables and shelves for his home. Instead, his scientific background soon began to shape his creative ambitions.
Bryan Welm’s first scientific metal sculpture was a homage to DNA.
Bryan Welm
His workspace quickly transitioned from the classroom to a makeshift studio in his garage, where he created his first scientific sculpture: a DNA helix made from copper and brass. “I wanted to make it as accurate as I could,” he said. He scaled up the diameter of DNA and the distances between nucleotides. The process involved two different welding methods to accommodate the different metals and create more precise welds. It was a lot of trial and error; in fact, Welm even accidentally created a left-handed helix in his earliest attempt.
Welm, who co-leads a lab group with his wife at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, displayed one of his DNA sculptures in the office area. This caught the attention of Karolin Luger, a biochemist from the University of Colorado Boulder, who commissioned Welm to sculpt a nucleosome—a structure that she described in the 1990s.1
Rising to the challenge, he learned new welding techniques and deepened his appreciation for the nucleosome’s role in biology. “I love the structure because it’s very aesthetic. It connects with many people because they see the DNA around the outside, then you have the protein complex in the middle of it, and it’s really quite a beautiful structure,” said Welm.
Welm also creates sculptures, such as the bacteriophage pictured above, for educational outreach at local schools. “Visually, [the bacteriophage] looks totally alien, like either a spaceship, or something very creepy,” he said. “Then, I tell [the kids] it’s a bacteriophage, and you have more of these in your body than you have cells in your body. That really gets their attention.”
Welm uses different welding techniques and metals to create his scientific sculptures.
Park City Photographers, Deb DeKoff
In addition, Welm hopes that his sculptures resonate with others. While he does not directly work with patients, his art is often displayed in the cancer institute, where physicians, patients, and visitors pass through the halls.
This connection extends beyond the institute. He recalled an instance when a woman picked up an estrogen receptor sculpture at his workshop for a breast cancer research fundraiser. “She stopped and said, ‘Is that what’s killing me?’ which was kind of wrenching, but at the same time it’s not actually killing her.”
Using the sculpture as a visual aid, Welm explained that the drug tamoxifen binds to estrogen receptors on cancer cells, blocking estradiol and slowing the growth of estrogen-positive breast cancer. “I hope that…she was able to identify through the art piece, to see the actual biology of what was going on, and why this drug was so important for her to maintain.”
Today, Welm continues to explore the intersection of science and art, finding beauty in both—and in the connections his work helps create.
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