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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.
Meiosis illustration (with labels)
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Meiosis is the process whereby a cell reduces its chromosomes from diploid to haploid in creating eggs or sperm. Crabtree + Company View Media
Jellyfish, viewed with ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 microscope
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Jellyfish are especially good models for studying the evolution of embryonic tissue layers. Despite being primitive, jellyfish have a nervous system (stained green here) and musculature (red). Helena Parra, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain View Media
Salivary gland in the developing fruit fly
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For fruit flies, the salivary gland is used to secrete materials for making the pupal case, the protective enclosure in which a larva transforms into an adult fly. Richard Fehon, University of Chicago View Media
CRISPR illustration
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This illustration shows, in simplified terms, how the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be used as a gene-editing tool. National Institute of General Medical Sciences. View Media
Heart muscle with reprogrammed skin cells
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Skins cells were reprogrammed into heart muscle cells. The cells highlighted in green are remaining skin cells. Red indicates a protein that is unique to heart muscle. Deepak Srivastava, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, via CIRM View Media
Mouse heart muscle cells
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This image shows neonatal mouse heart cells. These cells were grown in the lab on a chip that aligns the cells in a way that mimics what is normally seen in the body. Kara McCloskey lab, University of California, Merced, via CIRM View Media
PSI: from genes to structures
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The goal of the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) is to determine the three-dimensional shapes of a wide range of proteins by solving the structures of representative members of each protein family f National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media
Xenopus laevis egg
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Xenopus laevis, the African clawed frog, has long been used as a model organism for studying embryonic development. Michael Klymkowsky, University of Colorado, Boulder View Media
In vitro assembly of a cell-signaling pathway
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T cells are white blood cells that are important in defending the body against bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Xiaolei Su, HHMI Whitman Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory View Media
Four timepoints in gastrulation
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It has been said that gastrulation is the most important event in a person's life. Bob Goldstein, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill View Media
Chromosome inside nucleus (with labels)
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The long, stringy DNA that makes up genes is spooled within chromosomes inside the nucleus of a cell. Crabtree + Company View Media
Cysteine dioxygenase from mouse
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Model of the mammalian iron enzyme cysteine dioxygenase from a mouse. Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, PSI View Media
Ribbon diagram of a cefotaxime-CCD-1 complex
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CCD-1 is an enzyme produced by the bacterium Clostridioides difficile that helps it resist antibiotics. Keith Hodgson, Stanford University. View Media
RNA strand (with labels)
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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a sugar-phosphate backbone and the bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U). Featured in The New Genetics. Crabtree + Company View Media
Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum
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A computer model shows how the endoplasmic reticulum is close to and almost wraps around mitochondria in the cell. The endoplasmic reticulum is lime green and the mitochondria are yellow. Bridget Wilson, University of New Mexico View Media
Quartered torso
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Cells function within organs and tissues, such as the lungs, heart, intestines, and kidney. Judith Stoffer View Media
Single-cell “radios” image
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Individual cells are color-coded based on their identity and signaling activity using a protein circuit technology developed by the Coyle Lab. Scott Coyle, University of Wisconsin-Madison. View Media
Bacterial cells migrating through the tissues of the squid light organ
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Vibrio fischeri cells (~ 2 mm), labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP), passing through a very narrow bottleneck in the tissues (red) of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolope Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Carnegie Institution for Science/California Institute of Technology, and Edward G. Ruby, California Institute of Technology. View Media
Breast cancer cells change migration phenotypes
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Cancer cells can change their migration phenotype, which includes their shape and the way that they move to invade different tissues. Bo Sun, Oregon State University. View Media
Rhodopsin bound to visual arrestin
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Rhodopsin is a pigment in the rod cells of the retina (back of the eye). It is extremely light-sensitive, supporting vision in low-light conditions. Protein Data Bank. View Media
Induced stem cells from adult skin 03
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The human skin cells pictured contain genetic modifications that make them pluripotent, essentially equivalent to embryonic stem cells. James Thomson, University of Wisconsin-Madison View Media
Fly cells
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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
Shiga toxin
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E. coli bacteria normally live harmlessly in our intestines, but some cause disease by making toxins. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. View Media
Quorum-sensing inhibitor limits bacterial growth
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To simulate the consequences of disrupting bacterial cell-to-cell communication, called quorum sensing, in the crypts (small chambers within the colon), the researchers experimented with an inhibitor Minyoung Kevin Kim and Bonnie Bassler, Princeton University View Media
Cryo-ET cross-section of the Golgi apparatus
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On the left, a cross-section slice of a rat pancreas cell captured using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). On the right, a 3D, color-coded version of the image highlighting cell structures. Xianjun Zhang, University of Southern California. View Media
Crab larva eye
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Colorized scanning electron micrographs progressively zoom in on the eye of a crab larva. In the higher-resolution frames, bacteria are visible on the eye. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media
RNA Polymerase II
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NIGMS-funded researchers led by Roger Kornberg solved the structure of RNA polymerase II. David Bushnell, Ken Westover and Roger Kornberg, Stanford University View Media
Polarized cells- 02
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Cells move forward with lamellipodia and filopodia supported by networks and bundles of actin filaments. Proper, controlled cell movement is a complex process. Rong Li and Praveen Suraneni, Stowers Institute for Medical Research View Media
Borrelia burgdorferi
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Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete, a class of long, slender bacteria that typically take on a coiled shape. Infection with this bacterium causes Lyme disease. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media
Tracking embryonic zebrafish cells
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To better understand cell movements in developing embryos, researchers isolated cells from early zebrafish embryos and grew them as clusters. Liliana Solnica-Krezel, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. View Media
Jack bean concanavalin A
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Crystals of jack bean concanavalin A protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media
Master clock of the mouse brain
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An image of the area of the mouse brain that serves as the 'master clock,' which houses the brain's time-keeping neurons. The nuclei of the clock cells are shown in blue. Erik Herzog, Washington University in St. Louis View Media
Calcium uptake during ATP production in mitochondria
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Living primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Mitochondria (green) stained with the mitochondrial membrane potential indicator, rhodamine 123. Nuclei (blue) are stained with DAPI. Lili Guo, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania View Media
Epithelial cells
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This image mostly shows normal cultured epithelial cells expressing green fluorescent protein targeted to the Golgi apparatus (yellow-green) and stained for actin (magenta) and DNA (cyan). Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media
X-ray crystallography (with labels)
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X-ray crystallography allows researchers to see structures too small to be seen by even the most powerful microscopes. Crabtree + Company View Media
Cells use bubble-like structures called vesicles to transport cargo
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Cells use bubble-like structures called vesicles (yellow) to import, transport, and export cargo and in cellular communication. A single cell may be filled with thousands of moving vesicles.Tatyana Svitkina, University of Pennsylvania View Media
A mammalian eye has approximately 70 different cell types
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The incredible complexity of a mammalian eye (in this case from a mouse) is captured here. Each color represents a different type of cell. Bryan William Jones and Robert E. Marc, University of Utah View Media
Mitosis - telophase
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Telophase during mitosis: Nuclear membranes form around each of the two sets of chromosomes, the chromosomes begin to spread out, and the spindle begins to break down. Judith Stoffer View Media
Cell curvature
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Rendering of the surface of an endothelial cell; membrane curvature is color coded. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media
Chemokine CXCR4 receptor
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The receptor is shown bound to a small molecule peptide called CVX15. Raymond Stevens, The Scripps Research Institute View Media
Nuclear Lamina
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The 3D single-molecule super-resolution reconstruction of the entire nuclear lamina in a HeLa cell was acquired using the TILT3D platform. Anna-Karin Gustavsson, Ph.D. View Media
PanC from M. tuberculosis
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Model of an enzyme, PanC, that is involved in the last step of vitamin B5 biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PanC is essential for the growth of M. Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Center, PSI View Media
Cytochrome structure with anticancer drug
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This image shows the structure of the CYP17A1 enzyme (ribbons colored from blue N-terminus to red C-terminus), with the associated heme colored black. Emily Scott, University of Kansas View Media
Zebrafish head vasculature video
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Various views of a zebrafish head with blood vessels shown in purple. Prayag Murawala, MDI Biological Laboratory and Hannover Medical School. View Media
Electrostatic map of the adeno-associated virus
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The new highly efficient parallelized DelPhi software was used to calculate the potential map distribution of an entire virus, the adeno-associated virus, which is made up of more than 484,000 atoms. Emil Alexov, Clemson University View Media
Circadian rhythm
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The human body keeps time with a master clock called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN. Crabtree + Company View Media
G switch (with labels)
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The G switch allows our bodies to respond rapidly to hormones. G proteins act like relay batons to pass messages from circulating hormones into cells. Crabtree + Company View Media
Mosaicism in C. elegans (Black Background)
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In the worm C. elegans, double-stranded RNA made in neurons can silence matching genes in a variety of cell types through the transport of RNA between cells. Snusha Ravikumar, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, and Antony M. Jose, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park View Media
