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.

Fruit fly nurse cells during egg development

6753

In many animals, the egg cell develops alongside sister cells. Adam C. Martin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. View Media

Mouse liver labeled with fluorescent probe

2601

A mouse liver glows after being tagged with specially designed infrared-fluorescent protein (IFP). Xiaokun Shu, University of California, San Diego View Media

Induced stem cells from adult skin 01

2603

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

Nucleosome

2741

Like a strand of white pearls, DNA wraps around an assembly of special proteins called histones (colored) to form the nucleosome, a structure responsible for regulating genes and condensing DNA strand Karolin Luger, Colorado State University View Media

Autofluorescent xanthophores in zebrafish skin

5755

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

Mitosis and meiosis compared-labeled

6788

Meiosis is used to make sperm and egg cells. During meiosis, a cell's chromosomes are copied once, but the cell divides twice. Judith Stoffer View Media

VDAC video 03

2572

This video shows the structure of the pore-forming protein VDAC-1 from humans. Gerhard Wagner, Harvard Medical School View Media

Honeybees marked with paint

6756

Researchers doing behavioral experiments with honeybees sometimes use paint or enamel to give individual bees distinguishing marks. Gene Robinson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. View Media

A drug's life in the body (with labels)

2528

A drug's life in the body. Medicines taken by mouth (oral) pass through the liver before they are absorbed into the bloodstream. Crabtree + Company View Media

Weblike sheath covering developing egg chambers in a giant grasshopper

3616

The lubber grasshopper, found throughout the southern United States, is frequently used in biology classes to teach students about the respiratory system of insects. Kevin Edwards, Johny Shajahan, and Doug Whitman, Illinois State University. View Media

Anti-tumor drug ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743), structure without hydrogens 03

2796

Ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743, brand name Yondelis), was discovered and isolated from a sea squirt, Ecteinascidia turbinata, by NIGMS grantee Kenneth Rinehart at the University of Illinois. Timothy Jamison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology View Media

Adult Hawaiian bobtail squid burying in the sand

7012

Each morning, the nocturnal Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, hides from predators by digging into the sand. At dusk, it leaves the sand again to hunt. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Carnegie Institution for Science/California Institute of Technology, and Edward G. Ruby, California Institute of Technology. View Media

Plasma membrane

2523

The plasma membrane is a cell's protective barrier. See image 2524 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health. Crabtree + Company View Media

Fruit fly sperm cells

2433

Developing fruit fly spermatids require caspase activity (green) for the elimination of unwanted organelles and cytoplasm via apoptosis. Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University View Media

Mosaicism in C. elegans (White Background)

6534

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

Pollen grains: male germ cells in plants and a cause of seasonal allergies

3609

Those of us who get sneezy and itchy-eyed every spring or fall may have pollen grains, like those shown here, to blame. Edna, Gil, and Amit Cukierman, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. View Media

Chromosomes before crossing over

1315

Duplicated pair of chromosomes lined up and ready to cross over. Judith Stoffer View Media

Lily mitosis 02

1012

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

Hsp33 figure 1

3354

Featured in the March 15, 2012 issue of Biomedical Beat. Related to Hsp33 Figure 2, image 3355. Ursula Jakob and Dana Reichmann, University of Michigan View Media

A chromosome goes missing in anaphase

5766

Anaphase is the critical step during mitosis when sister chromosomes are disjoined and directed to opposite spindle poles, ensuring equal distribution of the genome during cell division. View Media

Dimeric association of receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase

2349

Model of the catalytic portion of an enzyme, receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase from humans. The enzyme consists of two identical protein subunits, shown in blue and green. New York Structural GenomiX Research Consortium, PSI View Media

Anti-tumor drug ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) with hydrogens 03

2792

Sea urchin embryo 05

1051

Stereo triplet of a sea urchin embryo stained to reveal actin filaments (orange) and microtubules (blue). George von Dassow, University of Washington View Media

Mouse Retina

3309

A genetic disorder of the nervous system, neurofibromatosis causes tumors to form on nerves throughout the body, including a type of tumor called an optic nerve glioma that can result in childhood bli Tom Deerinck, NCMIR 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

Sea urchin embryo 01

1047

Stereo triplet of a sea urchin embryo stained to reveal actin filaments (orange) and microtubules (blue). George von Dassow, University of Washington View Media

Microtubules and tau aggregates

6892

Microtubules (magenta) and tau protein (light blue) in a cell model of tauopathy. Melike Lakadamyali, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. View Media

Fruit fly egg chamber

6811

A fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) egg chamber with microtubules shown in green and actin filaments shown in red. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Nuclear Lamina – Three Views

6573

Three views of the entire nuclear lamina of a HeLa cell produced by tilted light sheet 3D single-molecule super-resolution imaging using a platform termed TILT3D. Anna-Karin Gustavsson, Ph.D. 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

How a microtubule builds and deconstructs

3650

A microtubule, part of the cell's skeleton, builds and deconstructs. View Media

Biopixels

3266

Bioengineers were able to coax bacteria to blink in unison on microfluidic chips. This image shows a small chip with about 500 blinking bacterial colonies or biopixels. Jeff Hasty Lab, UC San Diego View Media

Beta 2-adrenergic receptor

3358

The receptor is shown bound to a partial inverse agonist, carazolol. Raymond Stevens, The Scripps Research Institute View Media

Yeast cells with nuclear envelopes and tubulin

6798

Yeast cells with nuclear envelopes shown in magenta and tubulin shown in light blue. The nuclear envelope defines the borders of the nucleus, which houses DNA. Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University. View Media

Pathways: What is It? | Why Scientists Study Cells

6540

Learn how curiosity about the world and our cells is key to scientific discoveries. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media

Dynein moving along microtubules

7023

Dynein (green) is a motor protein that “walks” along microtubules (red, part of the cytoskeleton) and carries its cargo along with it. This video was captured through fluorescence microscopy. Morgan DeSantis, University of Michigan. View Media

Floral pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli, grown on a semi-solid agar for 48 hours (photo 2)

6555

Floral pattern emerging as two bacterial species, motile Acinetobacter baylyi (red) and non-motile Escherichia coli (green), are grown together for 48 hours on 1% agar surface from a sma L. Xiong et al, eLife 2020;9: e48885 View Media

Simulation of uncontrolled avian flu outbreak

2574

This video simulation shows what an uncontrolled outbreak of transmissible avian flu among people living in Thailand might look like. Neil M. Ferguson, Imperial College London View Media

Confocal microscopy of perineuronal nets in the brain 2

3742

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

Himastatin

6848

A model of the molecule himastatin, which was first isolated from the bacterium Streptomyces himastatinicus. Himastatin shows antibiotic activity. Mohammad Movassaghi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. View Media

RNA interference

2558

RNA interference or RNAi is a gene-silencing process in which double-stranded RNAs trigger the destruction of specific RNAs. Crabtree + Company View Media

Carbon building blocks

2506

The arrangement of identical molecular components can make a dramatic difference. For example, carbon atoms can be arranged into dull graphite (left) or sparkly diamonds (right). Crabtree + Company View Media

Cells frozen in time

2307

The fledgling field of X-ray microscopy lets researchers look inside whole cells rapidly frozen to capture their actions at that very moment. Here, a yeast cell buds before dividing into two. Carolyn Larabell, University of California, San Francisco, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory View Media

More Images...

View All Images