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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.

Enzymes convert subtrates into products (with labels)

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Enzymes convert substrates into products very quickly. See image 2521 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health. Crabtree + Company View Media

Glycan arrays

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The signal is obtained by allowing proteins in human serum to interact with glycan (polysaccharide) arrays. The arrays are shown in replicate so the pattern is clear. Ola Blixt, Scripps Research Institute View Media

Fruit fly larvae brains showing tubulin

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Two fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) larvae brains with neurons expressing fluorescently tagged tubulin protein. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Repairing DNA

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Like a watch wrapped around a wrist, a special enzyme encircles the double helix to repair a broken strand of DNA. Tom Ellenberger, Washington University School of Medicine View Media

Natcher Building 10

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

ATP synthase

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The world's smallest motor, ATP synthase, generates energy for the cell. See image 2518 for a labeled version of this illustration. Crabtree + Company View Media

Pathways: What is Basic Science?

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Learn about basic science, sometimes called “pure” or “fundamental” science, and how it contributes to the development of medical treatments. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media

Honeybees marked with paint

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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

Peripheral nerve cell derived from ES cells

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A peripheral nerve cell made from human embryonic stem cell-derived neural crest stem cells. Stephen Dalton, University of Georgia View Media

Bacterial glucose isomerase

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A crystal of bacterial glucose isomerase protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media

Microtubule breakdown

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Like a building supported by a steel frame, a cell contains its own sturdy internal scaffolding made up of proteins, including microtubules. Eva Nogales, University of California, Berkeley View Media

3D reconstruction of the Golgi apparatus in a pancreas cell

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Researchers used cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to capture images of a rat pancreas cell that were then compiled and color-coded to produce a 3D reconstruction. Xianjun Zhang, University of Southern California. View Media

Movie of the 19S proteasome subunit processing a protein substrate

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The proteasome is a critical multiprotein complex in the cell that breaks down and recycles proteins that have become damaged or are no longer needed. Andreas Martin, HHMI View Media

Natcher Building 02

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

Bond types (with labels)

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Ionic and covalent bonds hold molecules, like sodium chloride and chlorine gas, together. Hydrogen bonds among molecules, notably involving water, also play an important role in biology. Crabtree + Company 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

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

Honeybee brain

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Insect brains, like the honeybee brain shown here, are very different in shape from human brains. Gene Robinson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. View Media

Vibrio bacteria

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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

Closeup of fluorescent C. elegans showing muscle and ribosomal protein

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Closeup of C. elegans, tiny roundworms, with a ribosomal protein glowing red and muscle fibers glowing green. Researchers used these worms to study a molecular pathway that affects aging. Jarod Rollins, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. View Media

Magnetic Janus particle activating a T cell

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A Janus particle being used to activate a T cell, a type of immune cell. Yan Yu, Indiana University, Bloomington. View Media

Superconducting magnet

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Superconducting magnet for NMR research, from the February 2003 profile of Dorothee Kern in Findings. Mike Lovett View Media

Microfluidic chip

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Microfluidic chips have many uses in biology labs. Jeff Hasty Lab, UC San Diego View Media

HIV Infected Cell

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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), shown here as tiny purple spheres, causes the disease known as AIDS (for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) 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

Precise development in the fruit fly embryo

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This 2-hour-old fly embryo already has a blueprint for its formation, and the process for following it is so precise that the difference of just a few key molecules can change the plans. Thomas Gregor, Princeton University View Media

Nerve and glial cells in fruit fly embryo

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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

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

Automated Worm Sorter - 4

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Georgia Tech associate professor Hang Lu holds a microfluidic chip that is part of a system that uses artificial intelligence and cutting-edge image processing to automatically examine large number of Georgia Tech/Gary Meek View Media

Neural circuits in worms similar to those in humans

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Green and yellow fluorescence mark the processes and cell bodies of some C. elegans neurons. Shawn Xu, University of Michigan 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

Regeneration of Mouse Ears

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Normal mice, like the B6 breed pictured on the left, develop scars when their ears are pierced. Ellen Heber-Katz, The Wistar Institute View Media

Transmission electron microscopy of coronary artery wall with elastin-rich ECM pseudocolored in light brown

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Elastin is a fibrous protein in the extracellular matrix (ECM). It is abundant in artery walls like the one shown here. As its name indicates, elastin confers elasticity. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

A chromosome goes missing in anaphase

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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

Bence Jones protein MLE

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A crystal of Bence Jones protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media

Three neurons and human ES cells

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The three neurons (red) visible in this image were derived from human embryonic stem cells. Undifferentiated stem cells are green here. Anirvan Ghosh lab, University of California, San Diego, via CIRM View Media

Rat Hippocampus

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This image of the hippocampus was taken with an ultra-widefield high-speed multiphoton laser microscope. Tom Deerinck, NCMIR View Media

Zebrafish larva

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You are face to face with a 6-day-old zebrafish larva. What look like eyes will become nostrils, and the bulges on either side will become eyes. Oscar Ruiz and George Eisenhoffer, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston View Media

Lily mitosis 05

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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

Fluorescent C. elegans showing muscle and ribosomal protein

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C. elegans, a tiny roundworm, with a ribosomal protein glowing red and muscle fibers glowing green. Researchers used these worms to study a molecular pathway that affects aging. Jarod Rollins, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. View Media

Cell-like compartments from frog eggs 4

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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

Fruit fly in the pink

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Fruit flies are a common model organism for basic medical research. Crabtree + Company View Media

Neural tube development

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Proteins in the neural tissues of this zebrafish embryo direct cells to line up and form the neural tube, which will become the spinal cord and brain. Alexander Schier, Harvard University View Media

Antitoxin GhoS (Illustration 1)

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Structure of the bacterial antitoxin protein GhoS. GhoS inhibits the production of a bacterial toxin, GhoT, which can contribute to antibiotic resistance. Rebecca Page and Wolfgang Peti, Brown University and Thomas K. Wood, Pennsylvania State University View Media

Centromeres on human chromosomes

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Human metaphase chromosomes are visible with fluorescence in vitro hybridization (FISH). Centromeric alpha satellite DNA (green) are found in the heterochromatin at each centromere. Peter Warburton, Mount Sinai School of Medicine View Media

Leptospira bacteria

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Leptospira, shown here in green, is a type (genus) of elongated, spiral-shaped bacteria. Infection can cause Weil's disease, a kind of jaundice, in humans. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Phenylalanine tRNA molecule

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Phenylalanine tRNA showing the anticodon (yellow) and the amino acid, phenylalanine (blue and red spheres). Patrick O'Donoghue and Dieter Soll, Yale University View Media

DNase

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Crystals of DNase protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media

HeLa cells

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Multiphoton fluorescence image of HeLa cells stained with the actin binding toxin phalloidin (red), microtubules (cyan) and cell nuclei (blue). Nikon RTS2000MP custom laser scanning microscope. National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Nucleotides make up DNA (with labels)

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DNA consists of two long, twisted chains made up of nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains one base, one phosphate molecule, and the sugar molecule deoxyribose. Crabtree + Company View Media