This skyline of New York City was created by “printing” nanodroplets containing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) onto a large plate. Each dot is a separate yeast colony. As the colonies grew, a picture emerged, creating art. To make the different colors shown here, yeast strains were genetically engineered to produce pigments naturally made by bacteria, fungi, and sea creatures such as coral and sea anemones. Using genes from other organisms to make biological compounds paves the way toward harnessing yeast in the production of other useful molecules, from food to fuels and drugs.

Animation for the vesicular shuttle model of Golgi transport.

X-ray crystallography allows researchers to see structures too small to be seen by even the most powerful microscopes. To visualize the arrangement of atoms within molecules, researchers can use the diffraction patterns obtained by passing X-ray beams through crystals of the molecule. This is a common way for solving the structures of proteins. See image 2511 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Structures of Life.

The nucleolus is a small but very important protein complex located in the cell's nucleus. It forms on the chromosomes at the location where the genes for the RNAs are that make up the structure of the ribosome, the indispensable cellular machine that makes proteins from messenger RNAs.

However, how the nucleolus grows and maintains its structure has puzzled scientists for some time. It turns out that even though it looks like a simple liquid blob, it's rather well-organized, consisting of three distinct layers: the fibrillar center, where the RNA polymerase is active; the dense fibrillar component, which is enriched in the protein fibrillarin; and the granular component, which contains a protein called nucleophosmin. Researchers have now discovered that this multilayer structure of the nucleolus arises from differences in how the proteins in each compartment mix with water and with each other. These differences let the proteins readily separate from each other into the three nucleolus compartments.

This video of nucleoli in the eggs of a commonly used lab animal, the frog Xenopus laevis, shows how each of the compartments (the granular component is shown in red, the fibrillarin in yellow-green, and the fibrillar center in blue) spontaneously fuse with each other on encounter without mixing with the other compartments.

For more details on this research, see this press release from Princeton. Related to video 3789, image 3792 and image 3793.

Bioengineers were able to coax bacteria to blink in unison on microfluidic chips. They called each blinking bacterial colony a biopixel. Thousands of fluorescent E. coli bacteria, shown here, make up a biopixel. Related to images 3265 and 3266. From a UC San Diego news release, "Researchers create living 'neon signs' composed of millions of glowing bacteria."

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. See image 2519 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health.

Illustration of a sperm, the male reproductive cell.

NIGMS staff are located in the Natcher Building on the NIH campus.

This image shows the hierarchical ontology of genes, cellular components and processes derived from large genomic datasets. From Dutkowski et al. A gene ontology inferred from molecular networks Nat Biotechnol. 2013 Jan;31(1):38-45. Related to 3436.

This illustration shows vesicle traffic inside a cell. The double membrane that bounds the nucleus flows into the ribosome-studded rough endoplasmic reticulum (purple), where membrane-embedded proteins are manufactured. Proteins are processed and lipids are manufactured in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (blue) and Golgi apparatus (green). Vesicles that fuse with the cell membrane release their contents outside the cell. The cell can also take in material from outside by having vesicles pinch off from the cell membrane.

This image shows mouse fetal heart fibroblast cells. The muscle protein actin is stained red, and the cell nuclei are stained blue. The image was part of a study investigating stem cell-based approaches to repairing tissue damage after a heart attack. Image and caption information courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

This network map shows the overlap (green) between the long QT syndrome (yellow) and epilepsy (blue) protein-interaction neighborhoods located within the human interactome. Researchers have learned to integrate genetic, cellular and clinical information to find out why certain medicines can trigger fatal heart arrhythmias. Featured in Computing Life magazine.

Animation for the cisternae maturation model of Golgi transport.

Model of the mandelate racemase enzyme from Bacillus subtilis, a bacterium commonly found in soil.

Cdc42, a member of the Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) proteins, regulates multiple cell functions, including motility, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell morphology. In order to fulfill these diverse roles, the timing and location of Cdc42 activation must be tightly controlled. Klaus Hahn and his research group use special dyes designed to report protein conformational changes and interactions, here in living neutrophil cells. Warmer colors in this image indicate higher levels of activation. Cdc42 looks to be activated at cell protrusions.

Related to images 2451, 2453, and 2454.

Hippocampal neuron in culture. Dendrites are green, dendritic spines are red and DNA in cell's nucleus is blue. Image is featured on Biomedical Beat blog post Anesthesia and Brain Cells: A Temporary Disruption?

A crystal of rabbit GPDA protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures.

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.

During DNA replication, each strand of the original molecule acts as a template for the synthesis of a new, complementary DNA strand. See image 2544 for a labeled version of this illustration.

The cone cell of the eye allows you to see in color. Appears in the NIGMS booklet Inside the Cell.

Cells keep time to know when to retire.

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. Source article Replenishing the Liver’s Immune Protections. Posted on December 12th, 2019 by Dr. Francis Collins.

A special "messy" region of a potassium ion channel is important in its function.

X-ray co-crystal structure of Src kinase bound to a DNA-templated macrocycle inhibitor. Related to 3413, 3414, 3416, 3417, 3418, and 3419.

A mouse brain that was genetically modified so that subpopulations of its neurons glow. Researchers often study mice because they share many genes with people and can shed light on biological processes, development, and diseases in humans.

This image was captured using a light sheet microscope.

Related to image 6929 and video 6931.

Cancer cells can change their migration phenotype, which includes their shape and the way that they move to invade different tissues. This movie shows breast cancer cells forming a tumor spheroid—a 3D ball of cancer cells—and invading the surrounding tissue. Images were taken using a laser scanning confocal microscope, and artificial intelligence (AI) models were used to segment and classify the images by migration phenotype. On the right side of the video, each phenotype is represented by a different color, as recognized by the AI program based on identifiable characteristics of those phenotypes. The movie demonstrates how cancer cells can use different migration modes during growth and metastasis—the spreading of cancer cells within the body.

This image results from a research project to visualize which regions of the adult fruit fly (Drosophila) brain derive from each neural stem cell. First, researchers collected several thousand fruit fly larvae and fluorescently stained a random stem cell in the brain of each. The idea was to create a population of larvae in which each of the 100 or so neural stem cells was labeled at least once. When the larvae grew to adults, the researchers examined the flies’ brains using confocal microscopy. With this technique, the part of a fly’s brain that derived from a single, labeled stem cell “lights up. The scientists photographed each brain and digitally colorized its lit-up area. By combining thousands of such photos, they created a three-dimensional, color-coded map that shows which part of the Drosophila brain comes from each of its ~100 neural stem cells. In other words, each colored region shows which neurons are the progeny or “clones” of a single stem cell. This work established a hierarchical structure as well as nomenclature for the neurons in the Drosophila brain. Further research will relate functions to structures of the brain.

Related to image 5868 and video 5843

Crystals of DNase protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures.

Shiga toxin (green) is sorted from the endosome into membrane tubules (red), which then pinch off and move to the Golgi apparatus.

During cell division, spindle pole bodies (glowing dots) move toward the ends of yeast cells to separate copied genetic information. Contractile rings (glowing bands) form in cells’ middles and constrict to help them split. This time-lapse video was captured using wide-field microscopy with deconvolution.

Related to images 6791, 6792, 6793, 6794, 6797, 6798, and video 6795.

Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythms are influenced by light and regulated by the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), sometimes referred to as a master clock. Learn more in NIGMS’ circadian rhythms fact sheet. See 6614 for the Spanish version of this infographic.

This color-enhanced image is a scanning electron microscope image of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. The cells are remarkably similar to normal RPE cells, growing in a hexagonal shape in a single, well-defined layer. This kind of retinal cell is responsible for macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. Image and caption information courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Related to image 3287.

In the top snapshots, the brain of a sleep-deprived fruit fly glows orange, marking high concentrations of a synaptic protein called Bruchpilot (BRP) involved in communication between neurons. The color particularly lights up brain areas associated with learning. By contrast, the bottom images from a well-rested fly show lower levels of the protein. These pictures illustrate the results of an April 2009 study showing that sleep reduces the protein's levels, suggesting that such "downscaling" resets the brain to normal levels of synaptic activity and makes it ready to learn after a restful night.

The receptor is shown bound to an antagonist, compound-24

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. A normal embryo is shown on the right.

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.

Originally from the waters of India, Nepal, and neighboring countries, zebrafish can now be found swimming in science labs (and home aquariums) throughout the world. This fish is a favorite study subject for scientists interested in how genes guide the early stages of prenatal development (including the developing fin shown here) and in the effects of environmental contamination on embryos.

In this image, green fluorescent protein (GFP) is expressed where the gene sox9b is expressed. Collagen (red) marks the fin rays, and DNA, stained with a dye called DAPI, is in blue. sox9b plays many important roles during development, including the building of the heart and brain, and is also necessary for skeletal development. At the University of Wisconsin, researchers have found that exposure to contaminants that bind the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor results in the downregulation of sox9b. Loss of sox9b severely disrupts development in zebrafish and causes a life-threatening disorder called campomelic dysplasia (CD) in humans. CD is characterized by cardiovascular, neural, and skeletal defects. By studying the roles of genes such as sox9b in zebrafish, scientists hope to better understand normal development in humans as well as how to treat developmental disorders and diseases.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.

Skins cells were reprogrammed into heart muscle cells. The cells highlighted in green are remaining skin cells. Red indicates a protein that is unique to heart muscle. The technique used to reprogram the skin cells into heart cells could one day be used to mend heart muscle damaged by disease or heart attack. Image and caption information courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Histone proteins loop together with double-stranded DNA to form a structure that resembles beads on a string. See image 2560 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The New Genetics.

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. Here, blue marks a high concentration of Bicoid, a key signaling protein that directs the formation of the fly's head. It also regulates another important protein, Hunchback (green), that further maps the head and thorax structures and partitions the embryo in half (red is DNA). The yellow dots overlaying the embryo plot the concentration of Bicoid versus Hunchback proteins within each nucleus. The image illustrates the precision with which an embryo interprets and locates its halfway boundary, approaching limits set by simple physical principles. This image was a finalist in the 2008 Drosophila Image Award.

The genetic code in DNA is transcribed into RNA, which is translated into proteins with specific sequences. During transcription, nucleotides in DNA are copied into RNA, where they are read three at a time to encode the amino acids in a protein. Many parts of a protein fold as the amino acids are strung together.

See image 2509 for an unlabeled version of this illustration.

Featured in The Structures of Life.

Cilia (cilium in singular) are complex molecular machines found on many of our cells. One component of cilia is the doublet microtubule, a major part of cilia’s skeletons that give them support and shape. This animated image is a partial model of a doublet microtubule’s structure based on cryo-electron microscopy images. Video can be found here 6549.

A zebrafish head with blood vessels shown in purple. Researchers often study zebrafish because they share many genes with humans, grow and reproduce quickly, and have see-through eggs and embryos, which make it easy to study early stages of development.

This image was captured using a light sheet microscope.

Related to video 6933.

Los ritmos circadianos son cambios físicos, mentales y conductuales que siguen un ciclo de 24 horas. Los ritmos circadianos típicos conducen a un nivel alto de energía durante la mitad del día (de 10 a.m. a 1 p.m.) y un bajón por la tarde. De noche, los ritmos circadianos hacen que la hormona melatonina aumente, lo que hace que la persona se sienta somnolienta.

Vea 6611 para la versión en inglés de esta infografía.

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

Wound healing requires the action of stem cells. In mice that lack the Sept2/ARTS gene, stem cells involved in wound healing live longer and wounds heal faster and more thoroughly than in normal mice. This confocal microscopy image from a mouse lacking the Sept2/ARTS gene shows a tail wound in the process of healing. See more information in the article in Science.

Related to images 3497 and 3500.

It has been said that gastrulation is the most important event in a person's life. This part of early embryonic development transforms a simple ball of cells and begins to define cell fate and the body axis. In a study published in Science magazine in March 2012, NIGMS grantee Bob Goldstein and his research group studied how contractions of actomyosin filaments in C. elegans and Drosophila embryos lead to dramatic rearrangements of cell and embryonic structure. This research is described in detail in the following article: "Triggering a Cell Shape Change by Exploiting Preexisting Actomyosin Contractions." In these images, myosin (green) and plasma membrane (red) are highlighted at four timepoints in gastrulation in the roundworm C. elegans. The blue highlights in the top three frames show how cells are internalized, and the site of closure around the involuting cells is marked with an arrow in the last frame. See related video 3334.

A mouse's fat cells (red) are shown surrounded by a network of blood vessels (green). Fat cells store and release energy, protect organs and nerve tissues, insulate us from the cold, and help us absorb important vitamins.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.

This image shows the structure of the CYP17A1 enzyme (ribbons colored from blue N-terminus to red C-terminus), with the associated heme colored black. The prostate cancer drug abiraterone is colored gray. Cytochrome P450 enzymes bind to and metabolize a variety of chemicals, including drugs. Cytochrome P450 17A1 also helps create steroid hormones. Emily Scott's lab is studying how CYP17A1 could be selectively inhibited to treat prostate cancer. She and graduate student Natasha DeVore elucidated the structure shown using X-ray crystallography. Dr. Scott created the image (both white bg and transparent bg) for the NIGMS image gallery. See the "Medium-Resolution Image" for a PNG version of the image that is transparent.

Nucleotides in DNA are copied into RNA, where they are read three at a time to encode the amino acids in a protein. Many parts of a protein fold as the amino acids are strung together.

See image 2510 for a labeled version of this illustration.

Featured in The Structures of Life.