Switch to List View

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.

3641: A mammalian eye has approximately 70 different cell types

The incredible complexity of a mammalian eye (in this case from a mouse) is captured here. Each color represents a different type of cell. In total, there are nearly 70 different cell types, including the retina's many rings and the peach-colored muscle cells clustered on the left.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.
Bryan William Jones and Robert E. Marc, University of Utah
View Media

1088: Natcher Building 08

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

2779: Mature, flowering Arabidopsis

This is an adult flowering Arabidopsis thaliana plant with the inbred designation L-er. Arabidopsis is the most widely used model organism for researchers who study plant genetics.
Jeff Dangl, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
View Media

2758: Cross section of a Drosophila melanogaster pupa

This photograph shows a magnified view of a Drosophila melanogaster pupa in cross section. Compare this normal pupa to one that lacks an important receptor, shown in image 2759.
Christina McPhee and Eric Baehrecke, University of Massachusetts Medical School
View Media

3499: Growing hair follicle stem cells

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. Cell nuclei are in blue. Red and orange mark hair follicle stem cells (hair follicle stem cells activate to cause hair regrowth, which indicates healing). See more information in the article in Science.
Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University
View Media

3600: Fat cells (red) and blood vessels (green)

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.
Daniela Malide, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
View Media

2327: Neural development

Using techniques that took 4 years to design, a team of developmental biologists showed that certain proteins can direct the subdivision of fruit fly and chicken nervous system tissue into the regions depicted here in blue, green, and red. Molecules called bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) helped form this fruit fly embryo. While scientists knew that BMPs play a major role earlier in embryonic development, they didn't know how the proteins help organize nervous tissue. The findings suggest that BMPs are part of an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for organizing the nervous system. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke also supported this work.
Mieko Mizutani and Ethan Bier, University of California, San Diego, and Henk Roelink, University of Washington
View Media

1280: Quartered torso

Cells function within organs and tissues, such as the lungs, heart, intestines, and kidney.
Judith Stoffer
View Media

3615: An insect tracheal cell delivers air to muscles

Insects like the fruit fly use an elaborate network of branching tubes called trachea (green) to transport oxygen throughout their bodies. Fruit flies have been used in biomedical research for more than 100 years and remain one of the most frequently studied model organisms. They have a large percentage of genes in common with us, including hundreds of genes that are associated with human diseases.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.
Jayan Nair and Maria Leptin, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
View Media

2749: Cytoscape network wiring diagram 2

This image integrates the thousands of known molecular and genetic interactions happening inside our bodies using a computer program called Cytoscape. Images like this are known as network wiring diagrams, but Cytoscape creator Trey Ideker somewhat jokingly calls them "hairballs" because they can be so complicated, intricate and hard to tease apart. Cytoscape comes with tools to help scientists study specific interactions, such as differences between species or between sick and diseased cells. Related to 2737.
Trey Ideker, University of California, San Diego
View Media

6999: HIV enzyme

These images model the molecular structures of three enzymes with critical roles in the life cycle of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). At the top, reverse transcriptase (orange) creates a DNA copy (yellow) of the virus's RNA genome (blue). In the middle image, integrase (magenta) inserts this DNA copy in the DNA genome (green) of the infected cell. At the bottom, much later in the viral life cycle, protease (turquoise) chops up a chain of HIV structural protein (purple) to generate the building blocks for making new viruses. See these enzymes in action on PDB 101’s video A Molecular View of HIV Therapy.
Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank.
View Media

6801: “Two-faced” Janus particle activating a macrophage

A macrophage—a type of immune cell that engulfs invaders—“eats” and is activated by a “two-faced” Janus particle. The particle is called “two-faced” because each of its two hemispheres is coated with a different type of molecule, shown here in red and cyan. During macrophage activation, a transcription factor tagged with a green fluorescence protein (NF-κB) gradually moves from the cell’s cytoplasm into its nucleus and causes DNA transcription. The distribution of molecules on “two-faced” Janus particles can be altered to control the activation of immune cells. Details on this “geometric manipulation” strategy can be found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper "Geometrical reorganization of Dectin-1 and TLR2 on single phagosomes alters their synergistic immune signaling" by Li et al. and the Scientific Reports paper "Spatial organization of FcγR and TLR2/1 on phagosome membranes differentially regulates their synergistic and inhibitory receptor crosstalk" by Li et al. This video was captured using epi-fluorescence microscopy.

Related to video 6800.
Yan Yu, Indiana University, Bloomington.
View Media

3307: DNA replication origin recognition complex (ORC)

A study published in March 2012 used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of the DNA replication origin recognition complex (ORC), a semi-circular, protein complex (yellow) that recognizes and binds DNA to start the replication process. The ORC appears to wrap around and bend approximately 70 base pairs of double stranded DNA (red and blue). Also shown is the protein Cdc6 (green), which is also involved in the initiation of DNA replication. The video shows the structure from different angles. See related image 3597.
Huilin Li, Brookhaven National Laboratory
View Media

3527: Bacteria in the mouse colon

Image of the colon of a mouse mono-colonized with Bacteroides fragilis (red) residing within the crypt channel. The red staining is due to an antibody to B. fragilis, the green staining is a general dye for the mouse cells (phalloidin, which stains F-actin) and the light blue glow is from a dye for visualizing the mouse cell nuclei (DAPI, which stains DNA). Bacteria from the human microbiome have evolved specific molecules to physically associate with host tissue, conferring resilience and stability during life-long colonization of the gut. Image is featured in October 2015 Biomedical Beat blog post Cool Images: A Halloween-Inspired Cell Collection.
Sarkis K. Mazmanian, California Institute of Technology
View Media

2341: Aminopeptidase N from N. meningitidis

Model of the enzyme aminopeptidase N from the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, which can cause meningitis epidemics. The structure provides insight on the active site of this important molecule.
Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, PSI
View Media

3542: Structure of amyloid-forming prion protein

This structure from an amyloid-forming prion protein shows one way beta sheets can stack. Image originally appeared in a December 2012 PLOS Biology paper.
Douglas Fowler, University of Washington
View Media

3637: Purkinje cells are one of the main cell types in the brain

This image captures Purkinje cells (red), one of the main types of nerve cell found in the brain. These cells have elaborate branching structures called dendrites that receive signals from other nerve cells.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.
Yinghua Ma and Timothy Vartanian, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
View Media

1291: Olfactory system

Sensory organs have cells equipped for detecting signals from the environment, such as odors. Receptors in the membranes of nerve cells in the nose bind to odor molecules, triggering a cascade of chemical reactions tranferred by G proteins into the cytoplasm.
Judith Stoffer
View Media

3556: Bioluminescent imaging in adult zebrafish - lateral and overhead view

Luciferase-based imaging enables visualization and quantification of internal organs and transplanted cells in live adult zebrafish. In this image, a cardiac muscle-restricted promoter drives firefly luciferase expression. This is the lateral and overhead (Bottom) view.
For imagery of the overhead view go to 3557.
For imagery of the lateral view go to 3558.
For more information about the illumated area go to 3559.
Kenneth Poss, Duke University
View Media

2554: RNA strand

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a sugar-phosphate backbone and the bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U). See image 2555 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The New Genetics.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

6605: Soft X-ray tomography of a pancreatic beta cell

A color-coded, 3D model of a rat pancreatic β cell. This type of cell produces insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. Visible are mitochondria (pink), insulin vesicles (yellow), the nucleus (dark blue), and the plasma membrane (teal). This model was created based on soft X-ray tomography (SXT) images.
Carolyn Larabell, University of California, San Francisco.
View Media

3451: Proteasome

This fruit fly spermatid recycles various molecules, including malformed or damaged proteins. Actin filaments (red) in the cell draw unwanted proteins toward a barrel-shaped structure called the proteasome (green clusters), which degrades the molecules into their basic parts for re-use.
Sigi Benjamin-Hong, Rockefeller University
View Media

3255: Centromeres on human chromosomes

Human metaphase chromosomes are visible with fluorescence in vitro hybridization (FISH). Centromeric alpha satellite DNA (green) are found in the heterochromatin at each centromere. Immunofluorescence with CENP-A (red) shows the centromere-specific histone H3 variant that specifies the kinetochore.
Peter Warburton, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
View Media

3793: Nucleolus subcompartments spontaneously self-assemble 4

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 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 photo of nucleolus proteins in the eggs of a commonly used lab animal, the frog Xenopus laevis, shows each of the nucleolus compartments (the granular component is shown in red, the fibrillarin in yellow-green, and the fibrillar center in blue). The researchers have found that these compartments 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, video 3791 and image 3792.
Nilesh Vaidya, Princeton University
View Media

2563: Epigenetic code (with labels)

The "epigenetic code" controls gene activity with chemical tags that mark DNA (purple diamonds) and the "tails" of histone proteins (purple triangles). These markings help determine whether genes will be transcribed by RNA polymerase. Genes hidden from access to RNA polymerase are not expressed. See image 2562 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The New Genetics.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

5875: Bacteriophage P22 capsid, detail

Detail of a subunit of the capsid, or outer cover, of bacteriophage P22, a virus that infects the Salmonella bacteria. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) was used to capture details of the capsid proteins, each shown here in a separate color. Thousands of cryo-EM scans capture the structure and shape of all the individual proteins in the capsid and their position relative to other proteins. A computer model combines these scans into the image shown here. Related to image 5874.
Dr. Wah Chiu, Baylor College of Medicine
View Media

6601: Atomic-level structure of the HIV capsid

This animation shows atoms of the HIV capsid, the shell that encloses the virus's genetic material. Scientists determined the exact structure of the capsid using a variety of imaging techniques and analyses. They then entered this data into a supercomputer to produce this image. Related to image 3477.
Juan R. Perilla and the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
View Media

2345: Magnesium transporter protein from E. faecalis

Structure of a magnesium transporter protein from an antibiotic-resistant bacterium (Enterococcus faecalis) found in the human gut. Featured as one of the June 2007 Protein Sructure Initiative Structures of the Month.
New York Structural GenomiX Consortium
View Media

2560: Histones in chromatin

Histone proteins loop together with double-stranded DNA to form a structure that resembles beads on a string. See image 2561 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The New Genetics.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

5857: 3D reconstruction of a tubular matrix in peripheral endoplasmic reticulum

Detailed three-dimensional reconstruction of a tubular matrix in a thin section of the peripheral endoplasmic reticulum between the plasma membranes of the cell.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a continuous membrane that extends like a net from the envelope of the nucleus outward to the cell membrane. The ER plays several roles within the cell, such as in protein and lipid synthesis and transport of materials between organelles.
Shown here is a three-dimensional representation of the peripheral ER microtubules. Related to images 5855 and 5856
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus, Virginia
View Media

3269: Colony of human ES cells

A colony of human embryonic stem cells (light blue) grows on fibroblasts (dark blue).
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
View Media

2410: DNase

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

1282: Lysosomes

Lysosomes have powerful enzymes and acids to digest and recycle cell materials.
Judith Stoffer
View Media

3457: Sticky stem cells

Like a group of barnacles hanging onto a rock, these human cells hang onto a matrix coated glass slide. Actin stress fibers, stained magenta, and the protein vinculin, stained green, make this adhesion possible. The fibroblast nuclei are stained blue.
Ankur Singh and Andrés García, Georgia Institute of Technology
View Media

6791: Yeast cells entering mitosis

Yeast cells entering mitosis, also known as cell division. The green and magenta dots are two proteins that play important roles in mitosis. They show where the cells will split. This image was captured using wide-field microscopy with deconvolution.

Related to images 6792, 6793, 6794, 6797, 6798, and videos 6795 and 6796.
Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University.
View Media

3362: Sphingolipid S1P1 receptor

The receptor is shown bound to an antagonist, ML056.
Raymond Stevens, The Scripps Research Institute
View Media

2521: Enzymes convert subtrates into products

Enzymes convert substrates into products very quickly. See image 2522 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

2337: Beta2-adrenergic receptor protein

Crystal structure of the beta2-adrenergic receptor protein. This is the first known structure of a human G protein-coupled receptor, a large family of proteins that control critical bodily functions and the action of about half of today's pharmaceuticals. Featured as one of the November 2007 Protein Structure Initiative Structures of the Month.
The Stevens Laboratory, The Scripps Research Institute
View Media

1022: Lily mitosis 09

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. The lily is considered a good organism for studying cell division because its chromosomes are much thicker and easier to see than human ones. Staining shows microtubules in red and chromosomes in blue. Here, condensed chromosomes are clearly visible and are starting to separate to form two new cells.
Andrew S. Bajer, University of Oregon, Eugene
View Media

2437: Hydra 01

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

2321: Microtubule breakdown

Like a building supported by a steel frame, a cell contains its own sturdy internal scaffolding made up of proteins, including microtubules. Researchers studying snapshots of microtubules have proposed a model for how these structural elements shorten and lengthen, allowing a cell to move, divide, or change shape. This picture shows an intermediate step in the model: Smaller building blocks called tubulins peel back from the microtubule in thin strips. Knowing the operations of the internal scaffolding will enhance our basic understanding of cellular processes.
Eva Nogales, University of California, Berkeley
View Media

2626: Telomeres

The 46 human chromosomes are shown in blue, with the telomeres appearing as white pinpoints. The DNA has already been copied, so each chromosome is actually made up of two identical lengths of DNA, each with its own two telomeres.
Hesed Padilla-Nash and Thomas Ried, the National Cancer Institute, a part of NIH
View Media

2496: Body toxins

Body organs such as the liver and kidneys process chemicals and toxins. These "target" organs are susceptible to damage caused by these substances. See image 2497 for a labeled version of this illustration.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

2515: Life of an AIDS virus (with labels and stages)

HIV is a retrovirus, a type of virus that carries its genetic material not as DNA but as RNA. Long before anyone had heard of HIV, researchers in labs all over the world studied retroviruses, tracing out their life cycle and identifying the key proteins the viruses use to infect cells. When HIV was identified as a retrovirus, these studies gave AIDS researchers an immediate jump-start. The previously identified viral proteins became initial drug targets. See images 2513 and 2514 for other versions of this illustration. Featured in The Structures of Life.
Crabtree + Company
View Media

3580: V. Cholerae Biofilm

Industrious V. cholerae bacteria (yellow) tend to thrive in denser biofilms (left) while moochers (red) thrive in weaker biofilms (right). More information about the research behind this image can be found in a Biomedical Beat Blog posting from February 2014.
View Media

6608: Cryo-ET cross-section of a rat pancreas cell

On the left, a cross-section slice of a rat pancreas cell captured using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). On the right, a 3D, color-coded version of the image highlighting cell structures. Visible features include microtubules (neon-green rods), ribosomes (small yellow circles), and vesicles (dark-blue circles). These features are surrounded by the partially visible endoplasmic reticulum (light blue). The black line at the bottom right of the left image represents 200 nm. Related to image 6607.
Xianjun Zhang, University of Southern California.
View Media

6773: Endoplasmic reticulum abnormalities

Human cells with the gene that codes for the protein FIT2 deleted. Green indicates an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident protein. The lack of FIT2 affected the structure of the ER and caused the resident protein to cluster in ER membrane aggregates, seen as large, bright-green spots. Red shows where the degradation of cell parts—called autophagy—is taking place, and the nucleus is visible in blue. This image was captured using a confocal microscope.
Michel Becuwe, Harvard University.
View Media

3750: A dynamic model of the DNA helicase protein complex

This short video shows a model of the DNA helicase in yeast. This DNA helicase has 11 proteins that work together to unwind DNA during the process of copying it, called DNA replication. Scientists used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which allowed them to study the helicase structure in solution rather than in static crystals. Cryo-EM in combination with computer modeling therefore allows researchers to see movements and other dynamic changes in the protein. The cryo-EM approach revealed the helicase structure at much greater resolution than could be obtained before. The researchers think that a repeated motion within the protein as shown in the video helps it move along the DNA strand. To read more about DNA helicase and this proposed mechanism, see this news release by Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Huilin Li, Stony Brook University
View Media

6606: Cryo-ET cross-section of the Golgi apparatus

On the left, a cross-section slice of a rat pancreas cell captured using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). On the right, a 3D, color-coded version of the image highlighting cell structures. Visible features include the folded sacs of the Golgi apparatus (copper), transport vesicles (medium-sized dark-blue circles), microtubules (neon green), ribosomes (small pale-yellow circles), and lysosomes (large yellowish-green circles). Black line (bottom right of the left image) represents 200 nm. This image is a still from video 6609.
Xianjun Zhang, University of Southern California.
View Media

5852: Optic nerve astrocytes

Astrocytes in the cross section of a human optic nerve head
Tom Deerinck and Keunyoung (“Christine”) Kim, NCMIR
View Media