Image and Video Gallery

This is a searchable collection of scientific photos, illustrations, and videos. The images and videos in this gallery are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0. This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon this work non-commercially, as long as you credit and license your new creations under identical terms.

Migrating pigment cells

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Pigment cells are cells that give skin its color. David Parichy, University of Washington View Media

Dicty fruit

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Dictyostelium discoideum is a microscopic amoeba. A group of 100,000 form a mound as big as a grain of sand. Featured in The New Genetics. View Media

Taste buds signal different tastes through ATP release

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Taste buds in a mouse tongue epithelium with types I, II, and III taste cells visualized by cell-type-specific fluorescent antibodies. Aki Taruno, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania View Media

Fruit fly ovarioles

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Three fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) ovarioles (yellow, blue, and magenta) with egg cells visible inside them. Ovarioles are tubes in the reproductive systems of female insects. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Floral pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli, grown on a semi-solid agar for 72 hour

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Floral pattern emerging as two bacterial species, motile Acinetobacter baylyi and non-motile Escherichia coli (green), are grown together for 72 hours on 0.5% agar surface from a small i L. Xiong et al, eLife 2020;9: e48885 View Media

Human Adenovirus

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The cryo-EM structure of human adenovirus D26 (HAdV-D26) at near atomic resolution (3.7 Å), determined in collaboration with the NRAMM facility*. National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy http://nramm.nysbc.org/nramm-images/ Source: Bridget Carragher View Media

Interphase in Xenopus frog cells

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These images show frog cells in interphase. The cells are Xenopus XL177 cells, which are derived from tadpole epithelial cells. The microtubules are green and the chromosomes are blue. Claire Walczak, who took them while working as a postdoc in the laboratory of Timothy Mitchison. View Media

Molecular model of freshly made Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)

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Viruses have been the foes of animals and other organisms for time immemorial. Boon Chong Goh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Media

Pulsating response to stress in bacteria

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By attaching fluorescent proteins to the genetic circuit responsible for B. subtilis's stress response, researchers can observe the cells' pulses as green flashes. Michael Elowitz, Caltech University View Media

Precisely Delivering Chemical Cargo to Cells

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Moving protein or other molecules to specific cells to treat or examine them has been a major biological challenge. Nature Nanotechnology View Media

Vimentin in a quail embryo

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Confocal image showing high levels of the protein vimentin (white) at the edge zone of a quail embryo. Cell nuclei are labeled green. Andrés Garcia, Georgia Tech View Media

Aldolase

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2.5Å resolution reconstruction of rabbit muscle aldolase collected on a FEI/Thermo Fisher Titan Krios with energy filter and image corrector. National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy http://nramm.nysbc.org/nramm-images/ Source: Bridget Carragher View Media

Centrioles anchor cilia in planaria

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Centrioles (green) anchor cilia (red), which project on the surface of pharynx cells of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Juliette Azimzadeh, University of California, San Francisco View Media

HeLa cells

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Multiphoton fluorescence image of HeLa cells with cytoskeletal microtubules (magenta) and DNA (cyan). Nikon RTS2000MP custom laser scanning microscope. National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Mitochondria from rat heart muscle cell

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These mitochondria (red) are from the heart muscle cell of a rat. Mitochondria have an inner membrane that folds in many places (and that appears here as striations). National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research View Media

Lily mitosis 08

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A light microscope image of a cell from the endosperm of an African globe lily (Scadoxus katherinae). This is one frame of a time-lapse sequence that shows cell division in action. Andrew S. Bajer, University of Oregon, Eugene View Media

Time-lapse video of floral pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli, grown on a semi-solid agar for 24 hours

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This time-lapse video shows the emergence of a flower-like pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, motile Acinetobacter baylyi and non-motile Escherichia coli (green), that are gr L. Xiong et al, eLife 2020;9: e48885 View Media

Mouse brain slice showing nerve cells

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A 20-µm thick section of mouse midbrain. The nerve cells are transparent and weren’t stained. Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory/University of Chicago. View Media

Abnormal, spiky fibroblast

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This is a fibroblast, a connective tissue cell that plays an important role in wound healing. Normal fibroblasts have smooth edges. Praveen Suraneni, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Mo. View Media

Fly cells live

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a movie worth? Denise Montell, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine View Media

3D image of actin in a cell

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Actin is an essential protein in a cell's skeleton (cytoskeleton). It forms a dense network of thin filaments in the cell. Xiaowei Zhuang, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University View Media

Cell-like compartments emerging from scrambled frog eggs 3

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Cell-like compartments spontaneously emerge from scrambled frog eggs. Endoplasmic reticulum (red) and microtubules (green) are visible. Video created using epifluorescence microscopy. Xianrui Cheng, Stanford University School of Medicine. View Media

Lipid raft

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Researchers have learned much of what they know about membranes by constructing artificial membranes in the laboratory. Judith Stoffer View Media

Trigonium diatom

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A Trigonium diatom imaged by a quantitative orientation-independent differential interference contrast (OI-DIC) microscope. Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory/University of Chicago. View Media

Drugs enter skin (with labels)

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Drugs enter different layers of skin via intramuscular, subcutaneous, or transdermal delivery methods. See image 2531 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Crabtree + Company View Media

Q fever bacteria in an infected cell

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This image shows Q fever bacteria (yellow), which infect cows, sheep, and goats around the world and can infect humans, as well. When caught early, Q fever can be cured with antibiotics. Robert Heinzen, Elizabeth Fischer, and Anita Mora, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health View Media

Immune cell attacks cell infected with a retrovirus

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T cells engulf and digest cells displaying markers (or antigens) for retroviruses, such as HIV. Kristy Whitehouse, science illustrator View Media

Cultured cells

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This image of laboratory-grown cells was taken with the help of a scanning electron microscope, which yields detailed images of cell surfaces. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Cells lining the trachea

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In this image, viewed with a ZEISS ORION NanoFab microscope, the community of cells lining a mouse airway is magnified more than 10,000 times. Eva Mutunga and Kate Klein, University of the District of Columbia and National Institute of Standards and Technology View Media

Tetrapolar mitosis

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This image shows an abnormal, tetrapolar mitosis. Chromosomes are highlighted pink. The cells shown are S3 tissue cultured cells from Xenopus laevis, African clawed frog. Gary Gorbsky, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation View Media

Zebrafish embryo

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Just 22 hours after fertilization, this zebrafish embryo is already taking shape. By 36 hours, all of the major organs will have started to form. Philipp Keller, Bill Lemon, Yinan Wan, and Kristin Branson, Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Va. View Media

Induced stem cells from adult skin 02

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These cells are induced stem cells made from human adult skin cells that were genetically reprogrammed to mimic embryonic stem cells. James Thomson, University of Wisconsin-Madison View Media

Dividing yeast cells with nuclear envelopes and spindle pole bodies

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Time-lapse video of yeast cells undergoing cell division. Nuclear envelopes are shown in green, and spindle pole bodies, which help pull apart copied genetic information, are shown in magenta. Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University. View Media

Microtubule growth

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Map of microtubule growth rates. Rates are color coded. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Bone cancer cell

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This image shows an osteosarcoma cell with DNA in blue, energy factories (mitochondria) in yellow, and actin filaments—part of the cellular skeleton—in purple. Dylan Burnette and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, NICHD View Media

Neural development

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Using techniques that took 4 years to design, a team of developmental biologists showed that certain proteins can direct the subdivision of fruit fly and chicken nervous system tissue into the regions Mieko Mizutani and Ethan Bier, University of California, San Diego, and Henk Roelink, University of Washington View Media

Cerebellum: the brain's locomotion control center

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The cerebellum of a mouse is shown here in cross-section. The cerebellum is the brain's locomotion control center. Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California, San Diego View Media

Red blood cells

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This image of human red blood cells was obtained with the help of a scanning electron microscope, an instrument that uses a finely focused electron beam to yield detailed images of the surface of a sa Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Nerve cell

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Nerve cells have long, invisibly thin fibers that carry electrical impulses throughout the body. Some of these fibers extend about 3 feet from the spinal cord to the toes. Judith Stoffer View Media

Hydra 04

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Hydra magnipapillata is an invertebrate animal used as a model organism to study developmental questions, for example the formation of the body axis. Hiroshi Shimizu, National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan View Media

Cell-like compartments from frog eggs

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Cell-like compartments that spontaneously emerged from scrambled frog eggs, with nuclei (blue) from frog sperm. Endoplasmic reticulum (red) and microtubules (green) are also visible. Xianrui Cheng, Stanford University School of Medicine. View Media

Multinucleated cancer cell

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A cancer cell with three nuclei, shown in turquoise. The abnormal number of nuclei indicates that the cell failed to go through cell division, probably more than once. Dylan T. Burnette, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. View Media

V. Cholerae Biofilm

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Industrious V. cholerae bacteria (yellow) tend to thrive in denser biofilms (left) while moochers (red) thrive in weaker biofilms (right). View Media

Hydra 02

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Flower-forming cells in a small plant related to cabbage (Arabidopsis)

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In plants, as in animals, stem cells can transform into a variety of different cell types. The stem cells at the growing tip of this Arabidopsis plant will soon become flowers. Arun Sampathkumar and Elliot Meyerowitz, California Institute of Technology View Media

Focal adhesions

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Cells walk along body surfaces via tiny "feet," called focal adhesions, that connect with the extracellular matrix. Crabtree + Company View Media

Hair cells: the sound-sensing cells in the ear

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These cells get their name from the hairlike structures that extend from them into the fluid-filled tube of the inner ear. Henning Horn, Brian Burke, and Colin Stewart, Institute of Medical Biology, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore View Media

Pigment cells in the fin of pearl danio

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Pigment cells are cells that give skin its color. David Parichy, University of Washington View Media

Cytonemes in developing fruit fly cells

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Scientists have long known that multicellular organisms use biological molecules produced by one cell and sensed by another to transmit messages that, for instance, guide proper development of organs Sougata Roy, University of California, San Francisco View Media

Phagosome in macrophage cell

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A sensor particle being engulfed by a macrophage—an immune cell—and encapsuled in a compartment called a phagosome. The phagosome then fuses with lysosomes—another type of compartment. Yan Yu, Indiana University, Bloomington. View Media

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