In this micrograph of a liver lesion from a mouse infected with Chromobacterium violaceum, some cells are dying (red) while other healthy cells (blue) are activating a protein (green) to fight the bacteria.
Image courtesy of Edward Miao at Duke University and Vivien Maltez at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This is an organoid comprised of human pluripotent colon cells with the metabolic enzyme MTHFD2 stained in red. Scientists have discovered that metabolic enzymes, involved in a cell’s energy production, also perform jobs like orchestrating cell division.
Image courtesy of Natalia Pardo Lorente at Centro de Regulación Genómica in Spain.
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.
A spider is coated in gold to prepare it as a specimen for scanning electron microscopy. Gold is used because of its high electrical conductivity, which enables the electron beam to interact with a specimen more effectively.
Image courtesy of Steve Gschmeissner.
A colorized scanning electron micrograph reveals in fine detail human sperm traveling through a fallopian tube. Ciliated cells (purple with hairlike extensions) help move eggs from the ovary to the uterus and regulate flow of fluid. Secretory cells (green) produce a nutrient-rich fluid that bathes sperm and egg.
Image courtesy of Steve Gschmeissner.
A differential interference contrast image of an amoeba magnified 60 times. Amoebas are a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter their shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopods or “false feet.”
Image courtesy of Håkan Kvarnström, Stockholm, Sweden and Nikon.
Melanoma or melanocyte skin cancer cells (orange) under microscope. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, with rising prevalence. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Because melanomas can develop anywhere in the body, they pose particular challenges for diagnoses and treatment.
A confocal micrograph depicts an embryonic mouse kidney showing the collecting duct (blue) and nephron progenitor (yellow) cells.
Image courtesy of Lori O’Brien, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Nikon.
Using confocal microscopy, this image depicts breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli.
Image courtesy of Caleb Dawson at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia and Nikon.
A network of dopaminergic neurons generated from human stem cells. Dopaminergic neurons regulate many brain functions, including voluntary movement, learning and reward and working memory.
Image courtesy of Nick Gatford, University of Oxford and Nikon Small World.