Generate a concept diagram or illustration from your research

Describe a mechanism, a process, or a conceptual relationship from your research and Anara generates an illustrative diagram. Ask Anara to read your uploaded papers first so the illustration is grounded in what your library actually describes, not a generic version of the concept. For researchers who need a figure for a slide, a grant application, or a poster and do not have design time.

1. Describe the task

You need a figure for Thursday’s lab meeting. Not a publication-ready multi-panel schematic with labeled axes and statistical notation, but an illustrative diagram that shows how the pathway works, what the intervention does, or how the study design is structured. The kind of figure you would sketch on a whiteboard to explain your project.

Anara generates this from a description. Tell it what the concept is and what relationships between elements you want to show. If the concept is described in a paper in your library, ask Anara to read that section first and use it as the basis for the image. The image is illustrative: it communicates the concept accurately but does not render precise molecular geometry, axis-labeled charts, or publication-standard data visualizations. It does not replace BioRender or Illustrator for publication-quality work.

Here a cell biology PhD student needs a concept figure for her research proposal showing how her target kinase fits into a known signaling pathway and where her proposed intervention acts.

Read the methods and results sections of my uploaded paper on AMPK-mTOR signaling in senescent cells. Based on what the paper describes, generate an illustrative concept diagram showing:
- AMPK and mTOR as two nodes with a regulatory relationship
- How nutrient sensing upstream of AMPK feeds into the pathway
- Where the pharmacological intervention described in the paper acts on the pathway
- Downstream effects on autophagy induction

Use a clean, simple style appropriate for a research proposal figure. Show arrows for activating relationships and flat-headed lines for inhibitory relationships. Do not include axis labels or statistical notation.

2. Give Anara context

Required context

• A description of the concept, mechanism, or process you want illustrated. The more specific the description, the more accurate the diagram.

Optional context

• An uploaded paper or note that describes the concept in detail. Anara reads the relevant section first and uses the scientific description as the basis for the image, which improves accuracy and grounding.
• A style or tone specification: simple and schematic, detailed with labeled components, clean lines for a slide, more visual for a poster.

3. What Anara creates

An illustrative diagram rendered as an image in the chat, grounded in your uploaded papers when you provide them. Ready to screenshot for a slide or grant application, not ready for journal submission. The image cannot represent quantitative data, precise molecular structure, or publication-standard notation.

4. Follow-up prompts

Revise the diagram with a different emphasis

When the first version is close but the emphasis is wrong.

The diagram is good but it shows AMPK and mTOR as equal in size. Make AMPK more visually prominent since that is the primary intervention target in our study. Also add a label showing where metformin acts on the pathway.

Generate a study design schematic

When you need a figure showing how the experiment is set up rather than how a pathway works.

Generate a schematic showing the study design for a two-arm randomized trial: a treatment arm receiving the intervention and a control arm. Show the timeline with three assessment time points at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. Keep the style clean and simple for a slide deck.

Ask Anara to explain what it generated

When you want to verify the diagram reflects the science correctly before you use it.

Describe what the diagram you just generated shows, step by step. I want to confirm that the pathway relationships are depicted correctly before I use this in my presentation.

5. Tricks, tips, and troubleshooting

How you word your prompt shapes what you get

Describe the elements and relationships explicitly. “Generate a signaling pathway diagram” is too little structure. “Show three proteins: A activates B, B inhibits C, the intervention blocks A-to-B” gives Anara enough. Use relationship language: activates, inhibits, recruits, phosphorylates. These map to arrow types. Describe the style you want (light background, minimal text, circular nodes). The more concrete the description, the closer the output.

Check the output against your own understanding

The diagram is generated from your description and any library text you pointed Anara to. It does not verify whether the pathway relationships you described are scientifically correct. Review the diagram against your understanding of the biology before using it. Where a relationship looks wrong, describe the correction and regenerate. The verify-and-revise loop usually takes two or three iterations.

What to do with the output next

Screenshot or save the image from the chat. It may need cropping or background adjustment for your slide tool. For grant applications, check whether the figure meets funder guidelines on backgrounds and resolution. For a publication or regulatory document, use the Anara figure as a reference sketch to brief an illustrator or replicate with a dedicated tool.