  One need only compare the number of three-dimensional molecular illustrations
in the first (1990) and third (2004) editions of Voet & Voet's "Biochemistry"
in order to appreciate this field's profound communicative value in modern
biological sciences -- ranging from medicine, physiology, and cell biology, to
pharmaceutical chemistry and drug design, to structural and computational
biology. The clich\'e about a picture being worth a thousand words is quite
poignant here: The information 'content' of an effectively-constructed piece of
molecular graphics can be immense. Because biological function arises from
structure, it is difficult to overemphasize the utility of visualization and
graphics in molding our current understanding of the molecular nature of
biological systems. Nevertheless, creating effective molecular graphics is not
easy -- neither conceptually, nor in terms of effort required. The present
collection of Rules is meant as a guide for those embarking upon their first
molecular illustrations.
