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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.
Chromatin in human fibroblast
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The nucleus of a human fibroblast cell with chromatin—a substance made up of DNA and proteins—shown in various colors. Melike Lakadamyali, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. View Media
Early life of a protein
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This illustration represents the early life of a protein—specifically, apomyoglobin—as it is synthesized by a ribosome and emerges from the ribosomal tunnel, which contains the newly formed protein's Silvia Cavagnero, University of Wisconsin, Madison View Media
Floral pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli, grown on a semi-solid agar for 24 hours
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Floral pattern emerging as two bacterial species, motile Acinetobacter baylyi and non-motile Escherichia coli (green), are grown together for 24 hours on 0.75% agar surface from a small L. Xiong et al, eLife 2020;9: e48885 View Media
Oligoendopeptidase F from B. stearothermophilus
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Crystal structure of oligoendopeptidase F, a protein slicing enzyme from Bacillus stearothermophilus, a bacterium that can cause food products to spoil. Accelerated Technologies Center for Gene to 3D Structure/Midwest Center for Structural Genomics View Media
Dividing cell in metaphase
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This image of a mammalian epithelial cell, captured in metaphase, was the winning image in the high- and super-resolution microscopy category of the 2012 GE Healthcare Life Sciences Cell Imaging Compe Jane Stout in the laboratory of Claire Walczak, Indiana University, GE Healthcare 2012 Cell Imaging Competition View Media
Kupffer cell residing in the liver
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Kupffer cells appear in the liver during the early stages of mammalian development and stay put throughout life to protect liver cells, clean up old red blood cells, and regulate iron levels. Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California, San Diego. View Media
Mitosis - prometaphase
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A cell in prometaphase during mitosis: The nuclear membrane breaks apart, and the spindle starts to interact with the chromosomes. Judith Stoffer 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
Tiny strands of tubulin, a protein in a cell's skeleton
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Just as our bodies rely on bones for structural support, our cells rely on a cellular skeleton. Pakorn Kanchanawong, National University of Singapore and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health; and Clare Waterman, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health View Media
Dopaminergic neurons derived from mouse embryonic stem cells
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These neurons are derived from mouse embryonic stem cells. Red shows cells making a protein called TH that is characteristic of the neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's disease. Yaping Sun, lab of Su Guo, University of California, San Francisco, via CIRM View Media
Mouse brain 1
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A mouse brain that was genetically modified so that subpopulations of its neurons glow. Prayag Murawala, MDI Biological Laboratory and Hannover Medical School. View Media
A molecular switch strips transcription factor from DNA
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In this video, Rice University scientists used molecular modeling with a mathematical algorithm called AWSEM (for associative memory, water-mediated, structure and energy model) and structural data to Davit Potoyan and Peter Wolynes View Media
Cryo-EM reveals how the HIV capsid attaches to a human protein to evade immune detection
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The illustration shows the capsid of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) whose molecular features were resolved with cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Juan R. Perilla, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Media
A Bacillus subtilis biofilm grown in a Petri dish
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Bacterial biofilms are tightly knit communities of bacterial cells growing on, for example, solid surfaces, such as in water pipes or on teeth. Gürol Süel, UCSD View Media
Beta-galactosidase montage showing cryo-EM improvement--gradient background
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Composite image of beta-galactosidase showing how cryo-EM’s resolution has improved dramatically in recent years. Older images to the left, more recent to the right. Veronica Falconieri, Sriram Subramaniam Lab, National Cancer Institute View Media
Pathways: What's the Connection? | Different Jobs in a Science Lab
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Learn about some of the different jobs in a scientific laboratory and how researchers work as a team to make discoveries. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media
Natural nanomachine in action
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Using a supercomputer to simulate the movement of atoms in a ribosome, researchers looked into the core of this protein-making nanomachine and took snapshots. Kevin Sanbonmatsu, Los Alamos National Laboratory View Media
A drug's life in the body (with labels)
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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
Cell cycle (with labels)
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Cells progress through a cycle that consists of phases for growth (G1, S, and G2) and division (M). Cells become quiescent when they exit this cycle (G0). Crabtree + Company View Media
Capillary protein crystallization robot
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This ACAPELLA robot for capillary protein crystallization grows protein crystals, freezes them, and centers them without manual intervention. Structural Genomics of Pathogenic Protozoa Consortium View Media
Nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase
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Model of the enzyme nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase. Berkeley Structural Genomics Center, PSI View Media
Transcription factor Sox17 controls embryonic development of certain internal organs
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During embryonic development, transcription factors (proteins that regulate gene expression) govern the differentiation of cells into separate tissues and organs. James M. Wells, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center View Media
Diversity oriented synthesis: generating skeletal diversity using folding processes
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This 1 1/2-minute video animation was produced for chemical biologist Stuart Schreiber's lab page. The animation shows how diverse chemical structures can be produced in the lab. Eric Keller 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
Coronavirus spike protein structure
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Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses responsible for 30 percent of mild respiratory infections and atypical deadly pneumonia in humans worldwide. Melody Campbell, UCSF View Media
Lily mitosis 09
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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
Nucleolus subcompartments spontaneously self-assemble 3
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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
Hen egg lysozyme (2)
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A crystal of hen egg lysozyme protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media
Aspirin (with labels)
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Acetylsalicylate (bottom) is the aspirin of today. Crabtree + Company View Media
Pathways: What is It? | Why Scientists Study Cells
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Learn how curiosity about the world and our cells is key to scientific discoveries. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media
Plasma-Derived Membrane Vesicles
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This fiery image doesn’t come from inside a bubbling volcano. Instead, it shows animal cells caught in the act of making bubbles, or blebbing. Jeanne Stachowiak, University of Texas at Austin View Media
Pathways – Bacteria vs. Viruses: What's the Difference?
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Learn about how bacteria and viruses differ, how they each can make you sick, and how they can or cannot be treated. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media
X-ray co-crystal structure of Src kinase bound to a DNA-templated macrocycle inhibitor 4
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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
Skin cell (keratinocyte)
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This normal human skin cell was treated with a growth factor that triggered the formation of specialized protein structures that enable the cell to move. Torsten Wittmann, University of California, San Francisco View Media
Rotavirus structure
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This image shows a computer-generated, three-dimensional map of the rotavirus structure. This virus infects humans and other animals and causes severe diarrhea in infants and young children. Bridget Carragher, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA View Media
Taste buds signal different tastes through ATP release
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Taste buds in a mouse tongue epithelium with types I, II, and III taste cells visualized by cell-type-specific fluorescent antibodies. Aki Taruno, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania View Media
Lily mitosis 10
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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
Kluyveromyces polysporus Argonaute bound to guide RNA
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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
Sea urchin embryo 03
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Stereo triplet of a sea urchin embryo stained to reveal actin filaments (orange) and microtubules (blue). George von Dassow, University of Washington 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
The nascent juvenile light organ of the Hawaiian bobtail squid
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A light organ (~0.5 mm across) of a Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, with different tissues are stained various colors. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Carnegie Institution for Science/California Institute of Technology, and Edward G. Ruby, California Institute of Technology. View Media
Cells frozen in time
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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
Dimeric ferredoxin-like protein from an unidentified marine microbe
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This is the first structure of a protein derived from the metagenomic sequences collected during the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling project. Joint Center for Structural Genomics View Media
Fat cells (red) and blood vessels (green)
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A mouse's fat cells (red) are shown surrounded by a network of blood vessels (green). Daniela Malide, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health View Media
Cisternae maturation model
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Animation for the cisternae maturation model of Golgi transport. Judith Stoffer View Media
C. elegans trapped by carnivorous fungus
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Real-time footage of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny roundworm, trapped by a carnivorous fungus, Arthrobotrys dactyloides. Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory/University of Chicago. View Media
Three muscle fibers; the middle has a defect found in some neuromuscular diseases
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Of the three muscle fibers shown here, the one on the right and the one on the left are normal. The middle fiber is deficient a large protein called nebulin (blue). Christopher Pappas and Carol Gregorio, University of Arizona 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
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
