ALT A woman is blowing at a pinwheel-shaped molecule. The text below says: "The PIEZO1 protein made an impression on Deepti Gupta from EMBL-EBI due to the role it plays in helping organisms perceive their surroundings." Protein reference: PDBe 6B3R.

ALT A woman is receiving sweets from an elephant. The drawing of the elephant head is overlaid on the structure of a molecule. The text box above says: "Sofa Rucli from EMBL Rome imagines the enzyme OGT as an elephant-shaped ‘candy enzyme’ that dispenses sweetness to cellular proteins." Protein reference: Uniprot Q8CGY8

ALT Text box: "The cute side of science. We’ve asked some of our scientists, from across EMBL sites, to talk about the molecules that capture their imaginations. These stories reveal the surprising beauty, humour, and charm in the molecular structures that power life itself. We invite you to explore them and fall in love with the molecules, like these scientists have." In the background: drawings of molecules and the EMBL logo.