For this project, I created a cover design for the research article ‘Tumor Suppressor Genes with Segmental Duplications Are Prone to Somatic Deletions and Structural Variations‘ by Huang & Zhang et al. (2025). The cover was selected by the board of editors at the Cancer Research journal and was featured on the cover of the August 1st issue.
The goal of the project was to create a cover image for a Cancer Research article, highlighting the findings that tumor suppressor genes with segmental duplications have an increased risk for somatic alterations, including deletions and structural variations, in human cancers, identifying them as a genetic Achilles’ heel in tumor suppression.
Upon replication stress, tumor suppressor genes with segmental duplications (SD) tend to undergo mitotic DNA synthesis, which is known to be associated with the error-prone break-induced repair. The broken end of the DNA of a tumor suppressor gene with SD creates a single-strand overhang to invade its paired SD on a nonhomologous chromosome to repair the single-ended double-strand break. This process can lead to somatic deletions or structural variations.
In the initial phase, I conducted research to identify the artwork preferences of journal editors by reviewing cover designs from the online archive spanning from 2023 to 2025. Looking at past covers, it can be seen that the editors have shown a good balance of selecting both stylized, metaphorical illustrations and realistic 3D renders as the cover.
Self-directed research was conducted after reading through the client’s manuscript, followed by a meeting to discuss potential ideas which had us agree on several key elements to incorporate into the design: tumour suppressor genes on non-homologous chromosomes, and mitotic DNA sythesis repair in action after a double strand break. Due to the very technical topic of the paper, it was decided that a 3D illustration would offer more clarity and represent the research more accurately.
For the final design, all objects were modelled and sculpted in Blender. Final adjustments were made in Adobe Photoshop to refine the environment lighting and create foreground and depth of field. Motion and perspective blur was added to make the composition more dynamic and appear ‘in action’. Contrast and colour saturation were also corrected to create a sharper image. Lastly, highlights were added to important key elements in the design to guide the eye.
Huang et al., Tumor Suppressor Genes with Segmental Duplications Are Prone to Somatic Deletions and Structural Variations, Cancer Research (2025) https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-24-2225
