Science in Pictures - Sanford Burnham Prebys
Institute News

Science in Pictures

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

March 17, 2025

These crinkly blooms are groups of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. After researchers treated phages so they could be viewed under a microscope, the viruses spontaneously formed into these structures, which are just 2/10ths of millimeter wide. By comparison, 1 millimeter is comparable to a sharp pencil point.

Image courtesy of McMaster University, Canada.