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.

Human liver cell (hepatocyte)

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Hepatocytes, like the one shown here, are the most abundant type of cell in the human liver. Donna Beer Stolz, University of Pittsburgh View Media

A panorama view of cells

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This photograph shows a panoramic view of HeLa cells, a cell line many researchers use to study a large variety of important research questions. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research View Media

Lily mitosis 01

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A light microscope image shows the chromosomes, stained dark blue, in a dividing cell of an African globe lily (Scadoxus katherinae). Andrew S. Bajer, University of Oregon, Eugene View Media

The eye uses many layers of nerve cells to convert light into sight

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This image captures the many layers of nerve cells in the retina. The top layer (green) is made up of cells called photoreceptors that convert light into electrical signals to relay to the brain. Wei Li, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health View Media

Protein purification robot in action 01

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A robot is transferring 96 purification columns to a vacuum manifold for subsequent purification procedures. The Northeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics View Media

Nerve ending

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A scanning electron microscope picture of a nerve ending. It has been broken open to reveal vesicles (orange and blue) containing chemicals used to pass messages in the nervous system. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Zebrafish head vasculature

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

Assembly of the HIV capsid

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The HIV capsid is a pear-shaped structure that is made of proteins the virus needs to mature and become infective. John Grime and Gregory Voth, The University of Chicago View Media

Activation energy

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To become products, reactants must overcome an energy hill. See image 2526 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health. 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

Fibroblasts with nuclei in blue, energy factories in green and the actin cytoskeleton in red

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The cells shown here are fibroblasts, one of the most common cells in mammalian connective tissue. These particular cells were taken from a mouse embryo. Dylan Burnette, NICHD View Media

Biopixels

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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

Circadian rhythm (with labels)

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The human body keeps time with a master clock called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN. Crabtree + Company View Media

Endoplasmic reticulum abnormalities

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Human cells with the gene that codes for the protein FIT2 deleted. Green indicates an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident protein. Michel Becuwe, Harvard University. View Media

Molecular view of glutamatergic synapse

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This illustration highlights spherical pre-synaptic vesicles that carry the neurotransmitter glutamate. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. 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

NCMIR mouse tail

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Stained cross section of a mouse tail. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Antibiotic-surviving bacteria

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Colonies of bacteria growing despite high concentrations of antibiotics. These colonies are visible both by eye, as seen on the left, and by bioluminescence imaging, as seen on the right. Paul Stoodley, The Ohio State University. View Media

Human embryonic stem cells on feeder cells

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This fluorescent microscope image shows human embryonic stem cells whose nuclei are stained green. Blue staining shows the surrounding supportive feeder cells. Michael Longaker lab, Stanford University School of Medicine, via CIRM View Media

Fruit fly sperm cells

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

Nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase

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Model of the enzyme nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase. Berkeley Structural Genomics Center, PSI View Media

Artificial cilia exhibit spontaneous beating

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Researchers have created artificial cilia that wave like the real thing. Zvonimir Dogic View Media

Seeing signaling protein activation in cells 01

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Cdc42, a member of the Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) proteins, regulates multiple cell functions, including motility, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell morphology. Klaus Hahn, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Medical School View Media

Purkinje cells are one of the main cell types in the brain

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This image captures Purkinje cells (red), one of the main types of nerve cell found in the brain. Yinghua Ma and Timothy Vartanian, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. View Media

Nano-rainbow

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These vials may look like they're filled with colored water, but they really contain nanocrystals reflecting different colors under ultraviolet light. Shuming Nie, Emory University View Media

Electrode probe on mouse Huntington's muscle cell

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Using an electrode, researchers apply an electrical pulse onto a piece of muscle tissue affected by Huntington's disease. Grigor Varuzhanyan and Andrew A. Voss, California State Polytechnic University View Media

Sortase b from B. anthracis

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Structure of sortase b from the bacterium B. anthracis, which causes anthrax. Sortase b is an enzyme used to rob red blood cells of iron, which the bacteria need to survive. Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, PSI View Media

Mouse heart fibroblasts

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This image shows mouse fetal heart fibroblast cells. The muscle protein actin is stained red, and the cell nuclei are stained blue. Kara McCloskey lab, University of California, Merced, via CIRM View Media

Protein from Arabidopsis thaliana

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NMR solution structure of a plant protein that may function in host defense. This protein was expressed in a convenient and efficient wheat germ cell-free system. Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics View Media

Plasma membrane

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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 retina 02

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Section of a fruit fly retina showing the light-sensing molecules rhodopsin-5 (blue) and rhodopsin-6 (red). Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University View Media

Dopaminergic neurons from ES cells

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Human embryonic stem cells differentiated into dopaminergic neurons, the type that degenerate in Parkinson's disease. Image courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Jeannie Liu, Lab of Jan Nolta, University of California, Davis, via CIRM View Media

Lysosome clusters around amyloid plaques

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It's probably most people's least favorite activity, but we still need to do it--take out our trash. Otherwise our homes will get cluttered and smelly, and eventually, we'll get sick. Swetha Gowrishankar and Shawn Ferguson, Yale School of Medicine 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

CRISPR Illustration Frame 4

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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

Crystals of CCD-1 in complex with cefotaxime

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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

Fluorescent microscopy of kidney tissue--close-up

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This photograph of kidney tissue, taken using fluorescent light microscopy, shows a close-up view of part of image 3723. Tom Deerinck , National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research View Media

H1 histamine receptor

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The receptor is shown bound to an inverse agonist, doxepin. Raymond Stevens, The Scripps Research Institute View Media

Confocal microscopy of perineuronal nets in the brain 1

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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

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

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

VDAC video 02

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

Trajectories of labeled cell receptors

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Trajectories of single molecule labeled cell surface receptors. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Human endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein complex

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A 3D model of the human endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein complex (EMC) that identifies its nine essential subunits. Rebecca Voorhees, California Institute of Technology. View Media

Bacterial cells aggregating above the light organ of the Hawaiian bobtail squid

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A light organ (~0.5 mm across) of a juvenile Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Carnegie Institution for Science/California Institute of Technology, and Edward G. Ruby, California Institute of Technology. View Media

Mouse retina close-up

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Keunyoung ("Christine") Kim National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Beaded bacteriophage

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This sculpture made of purple and clear glass beads depicts bacteriophage Phi174, a virus that infects bacteria. It rests on a surface that portrays an adaptive landscape, a conceptual visualization. Holly Wichman, University of Idaho. (Surface by A. Johnston; photo by J. Palmersheim) View Media

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