The unsung work of the medical illustrator

The New York Times, whose firewall usually shuts me out and insists that I subscribe, has cooperated today and given me a fascinating glimpse into a job that most of us probably never knew existed, that of the medical illustrator.
This is the inside story of that cute, but faintly menacing, artist's rendition of a COVID-19 coronavirus virion. That "spiky blob" we all know so well was actually created by Alissa Eckert, a 40-year old (approximately) biology-trained medical illustrator with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and it is a fascinating mix of anatomically-correct rendition from electron microscope images and directed propaganda.
Yes, those spiky protein studs are actually a part of the real virus, but Ms. Eckert's original brief was to create an "identity" for the virus, "something to grab the public's attention", and her own intention was "to make them look like they're really alive". 
The coronavirus image she produced is what is called in the trade a "beauty shot", a detailed solo close-up. And, although reasonably true to "life", there are also some elements of artistic license. For example, the actual coronavirus virion has much fewer of the red "spike proteins" than the smaller orange "membrane proteins" and the yellow "envelope proteins", but she chose to emphasize the S-proteins because they are the means by which the virus speads itself (plus, they are more "photogenic"). She gave them a kind of stony texture, and even shadows, all in the interests of making a point and alerting people to their various properties, and not out of a concern with verisimilitude. The colour scheme was just one that "really stood out" for her (she tried several).
The articleshows some of Ms. Eckert's other work, including images of gonorrhea bacteria, a norovirus virion, a mumps virus particle. They are all quite beautiful, until you stop and think about what they represent. Medical illustrator will probably (hopefully!) never be a mainstream occupation, but Alissa Eckert has probably achieved as close to rock star status as the profession will ever get.