Switch to Gallery View

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.

Bacteria shapes

1158

A colorized scanning electron micrograph of bacteria. Scanning electron microscopes allow scientists to see the three-dimensional surface of their samples. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Cryogenic storage tanks at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research

2722

Established in 1953, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research distributes cell lines and DNA samples to researchers around the world. Courtney Sill, Coriell Institute for Medical Research View Media

Mitosis - telophase

1332

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

Chromosomes after crossing over

1314

Duplicated pair of chromosomes have exchanged material. Judith Stoffer View Media

Disrupted vascular development in frog embryos

3403

Disassembly of vasculature in kdr:GFP frogs following addition of 250 µM TBZ. Related to images 3404 and 3505. Hye Ji Cha, University of Texas at Austin View Media

Introduction to Genome Editing Using CRISPR/Cas9

5815

Genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 is a rapidly expanding field of scientific research with emerging applications in disease treatment, medical therapeutics and bioenergy, just to name a few. Janet Iwasa View Media

Single-cell “radios” video

7022

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

Natcher Building 07

1087

NIGMS staff are located in the Natcher Building on the NIH campus. Alisa Machalek, National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media

Body toxins (with labels)

2497

Body organs such as the liver and kidneys process chemicals and toxins. These "target" organs are susceptible to damage caused by these substances. Crabtree + Company View Media

Migrating pigment cells

5758

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

Cell-like compartments from frog eggs

6584

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

Mitochondria from rat heart muscle cell_2

3664

These mitochondria (brown) 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

Cell curvature

2803

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

Confocal microscopy of perineuronal nets in the brain 1

3741

The photo shows a confocal microscopy image of perineuronal nets (PNNs), which are specialized extracellular matrix (ECM) structures in the brain. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Electrostatic map of the adeno-associated virus

3374

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

Genetically identical mycobacteria respond differently to antibiotic 2

5752

Antibiotic resistance in microbes is a serious health concern. So researchers have turned their attention to how bacteria undo the action of some antibiotics. Bree Aldridge, Tufts University View Media

Blood clots show their flex

2450

Blood clots stop bleeding, but they also can cause heart attacks and strokes. Eric Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Media

X-ray co-crystal structure of Src kinase bound to a DNA-templated macrocycle inhibitor 3

3415

X-ray co-crystal structure of Src kinase bound to a DNA-templated macrocycle inhibitor. Markus A. Seeliger, Stony Brook University Medical School and David R. Liu, Harvard University View Media

Fused, dicentric chromosomes

2763

This fused chromosome has two functional centromeres, shown as two sets of red and green dots. Beth A. Sullivan, Duke University View Media

A multicolored fish scale 1

3782

Each of the colored specs in this image is a cell on the surface of a fish scale. Chen-Hui Chen and Kenneth Poss, Duke University View Media

Color coding of the Drosophila brain - video

5843

This video results from a research project to visualize which regions of the adult fruit fly (Drosophila) brain derive from each neural stem cell. Yong Wan from Charles Hansen’s lab, University of Utah. Data preparation and visualization by Masayoshi Ito in the lab of Kei Ito, University of Tokyo. View Media

How cilia do the wave

3494

Thin, hair-like biological structures called cilia are tiny but mighty. Zvonimir Dogic, Brandeis University View Media

Suicidal Stem Cells

3341

Embryonic stem cells store pre-activated Bax (red) in the Golgi, near the nucleus (blue). Featured in the June 21, 2012, issue of Biomedical Beat. Mohanish Deshmukh View Media

Zebrafish head vasculature video

6933

Various views of a zebrafish head with blood vessels shown in purple. Prayag Murawala, MDI Biological Laboratory and Hannover Medical School. View Media

Xenopus laevis embryos

2756

Xenopus laevis, the African clawed frog, has long been used as a model organism for studying embryonic development. The frog embryo on the left lacks the developmental factor Sizzled. Michael Klymkowsky, University of Colorado, Boulder View Media

Epithelial cell migration

6899

High-resolution time lapse of epithelial (skin) cell migration and wound healing. It shows an image taken every 13 seconds over the course of almost 14 minutes. Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory/University of Chicago. View Media

Kluyveromyces polysporus Argonaute bound to guide RNA

3408

A segment of siRNA, shown in red, guides a "slicer" protein called Argonaute (multi-colored twists and corkscrews) to the target RNA molecules. Kotaro Nakanishi and David Weinberg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology View Media

Dynamin structure

2744

When a molecule arrives at a cell's outer membrane, the membrane creates a pouch around the molecule that protrudes inward. Josh Chappie, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH View Media

Cell Nucleus and Lipid Droplets

6547

A cell nucleus (blue) surrounded by lipid droplets (yellow). James Olzmann, University of California, Berkeley View Media

Precisely Delivering Chemical Cargo to Cells

3779

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

Sepsis Infographic

6536

Sepsis is the body’s overactive and extreme response to an infection. More than 1.7 million people get sepsis each year in the United States. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media

Quartered torso

1280

Cells function within organs and tissues, such as the lungs, heart, intestines, and kidney. Judith Stoffer View Media

STORM image of axonal cytoskeleton

3678

This image shows the long, branched structures (axons) of nerve cells. Xiaowei Zhuang Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University View Media

Dynamin Fission

3448

Time lapse series shows short dynamin assemblies (not visible) constricting a lipid tube to make a "beads on a string" appearance, then cutting off one of the beads i.e., catalyzing membrane fission). Ramachandran, Pucadyil et al. , The Scripps Research Institute View Media

Introns

2550

Genes are often interrupted by stretches of DNA (introns, blue) that do not contain instructions for making a protein. Crabtree + Company View Media

PanB from M. tuberculosis (2)

2382

Model of an enzyme, PanB, from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes most cases of tuberculosis. This enzyme is an attractive drug target. Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Center, PSI-1 View Media

Spinal nerve cells

3251

Neurons (green) and glial cells from isolated dorsal root ganglia express COX-2 (red) after exposure to an inflammatory stimulus (cell nuclei are blue). Lawrence Marnett, Vanderbilt University View Media

Mapping disease spread

2320

How far and fast an infectious disease spreads across a community depends on many factors, including transportation. These U.S. David Chrest, RTI International View Media

Vesicle traffic

1283

This illustration shows vesicle traffic inside a cell. Judith Stoffer View Media

Nerve and glial cells in fruit fly embryo

1091

Glial cells (stained green) in a fruit fly developing embryo have survived thanks to a signaling pathway initiated by neighboring nerve cells (stained red). Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University View Media

Yeast cells with Fimbrin Fim1

6794

Yeast cells with the protein Fimbrin Fim1 shown in magenta. This protein plays a role in cell division. This image was captured using wide-field microscopy with deconvolution.
Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University. View Media

Petri dish containing C. elegans

6751

This Petri dish contains microscopic roundworms called Caenorhabditis elegans. Researchers used these particular worms to study how C. H. Robert Horvitz and Dipon Ghosh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. View Media

Rhodopsin bound to visual arrestin

6768

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

Nucleolus subcompartments spontaneously self-assemble 3

3792

What looks a little like distant planets with some mysterious surface features are actually assemblies of proteins normally found in the cell's nucleolus, a small but very important protein complex lo Nilesh Vaidya, Princeton University View Media

Vibrio bacteria

1160

Vibrio, a type (genus) of rod-shaped bacteria. Some Vibrio species cause cholera in humans. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Chromium X-ray source

2361

In the determination of protein structures by X-ray crystallography, this unique soft (l = 2.29Å) X-ray source is used to collect anomalous scattering data from protein crystals containing light atoms The Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics View Media

Aging book of life

1334

Damage to each person's genome, often called the "Book of Life," accumulates with time. Judith Stoffer View Media

HeLa cell undergoing division into two daughter cells

6520

Here, a human HeLa cell (a type of immortal cell line used in laboratory experiments) is undergoing cell division. Dylan T. Burnette, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. View Media

Histones in chromatin

2560

Histone proteins loop together with double-stranded DNA to form a structure that resembles beads on a string. Crabtree + Company View Media

Cross section of a Drosophila melanogaster pupa

2758

This photograph shows a magnified view of a Drosophila melanogaster pupa in cross section. Compare this normal pupa to one that lacks an important receptor, shown in image 2759. Christina McPhee and Eric Baehrecke, University of Massachusetts Medical School View Media