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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
Olfactory system
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Sensory organs have cells equipped for detecting signals from the environment, such as odors. Judith Stoffer View Media
Actin filaments bundled around the dynamin helical polymer
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Multiple actin filaments (magenta) are organized around a dynamin helical polymer (rainbow colored) in this model derived from cryo-electron tomography. Elizabeth Chen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. View Media
Polarized cells- 01
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Cells move forward with lamellipodia and filopodia supported by networks and bundles of actin filaments. Proper, controlled cell movement is a complex process. Rong Li and Praveen Suraneni, Stowers Institute for Medical Research View Media
Quartered torso
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Cells function within organs and tissues, such as the lungs, heart, intestines, and kidney. Judith Stoffer View Media
Stem cell differentiation
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Undifferentiated embryonic stem cells cease to exist a few days after conception. In this image, ES cells are shown to differentiate into sperm, muscle fiber, hair cells, nerve cells, and cone cells. Judith Stoffer 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
Activated mast cell surface
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A scanning electron microscope image of an activated mast cell. This image illustrates the interesting topography of the cell membrane, which is populated with receptors. Bridget Wilson, University of New Mexico View Media
Cells lining the blood vessel walls
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The structure of the endothelium, the thin layer of cells that line our arteries and veins, is visible here. Christopher V. Carman and Roberta Martinelli, Harvard Medical School. View Media
Supernova bacteria
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Bacteria engineered to act as genetic clocks flash in synchrony. Here, a "supernova" burst in a colony of coupled genetic clocks just after reaching critical cell density. Jeff Hasty, UCSD View Media
Interphase in Xenopus frog cells
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These images show frog cells in interphase. The cells are Xenopus XL177 cells, which are derived from tadpole epithelial cells. The microtubules are green and the chromosomes are blue. Claire Walczak, who took them while working as a postdoc in the laboratory of Timothy Mitchison. View Media
Blinking bacteria
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Like a pulsing blue shower, E. coli cells flash in synchrony. Genes inserted into each cell turn a fluorescent protein on and off at regular intervals. Jeff Hasty, University of California, San Diego View Media
Worm sperm
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To develop a system for studying cell motility in unnatrual conditions -- a microscope slide instead of the body -- Tom Roberts and Katsuya Shimabukuro at Florida State University disassembled and rec Tom Roberts, Florida State University View Media
Cryo-electron microscopy of the dengue virus showing protective membrane and membrane proteins
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Dengue virus is a mosquito-borne illness that infects millions of people in the tropics and subtropics each year. Like many viruses, dengue is enclosed by a protective membrane. Hong Zhou, UCLA View Media
Cell-like compartments emerging from scrambled frog eggs 2
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Cell-like compartments spontaneously emerge 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
Cellular aging
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A protein called tubulin (green) accumulates in the center of a nucleus (outlined in pink) from an aging cell. Maximiliano D'Angelo and Martin Hetzer, Salk Institute View Media
Hippocampal neuron in culture
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Hippocampal neuron in culture. Dendrites are green, dendritic spines are red and DNA in cell's nucleus is blue. Shelley Halpain, UC San Diego View Media
Mouse retina
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What looks like the gossamer wings of a butterfly is actually the retina of a mouse, delicately snipped to lay flat and sparkling with fluorescent molecules. Tom Deerinck and Keunyoung (“Christine”) Kim, NCMIR View Media
Fruit fly nurse cells during egg development
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In many animals, the egg cell develops alongside sister cells. Adam C. Martin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. View Media
Yeast cells with accumulated cell wall material
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Yeast cells that abnormally accumulate cell wall material (blue) at their ends and, when preparing to divide, in their middles. This image was captured using wide-field microscopy with deconvolution. Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University. View Media
Induced stem cells from adult skin 04
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The human skin cells pictured contain genetic modifications that make them pluripotent, essentially equivalent to embryonic stem cells. James Thomson, University of Wisconsin-Madison View Media
Plasma membrane (with labels)
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The plasma membrane is a cell's protective barrier. See image 2523 for an unlabeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Chemistry of Health. Crabtree + Company View Media
Genetic imprinting in Arabidopsis
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This delicate, birdlike projection is an immature seed of the Arabidopsis plant. The part in blue shows the cell that gives rise to the endosperm, the tissue that nourishes the embryo. Robert Fischer, University of California, Berkeley View Media
Clathrin-mediated endocytosis
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Endocytosis is the process by which cells are able to take up membrane and extracellular materials through the formation of a small intracellular bubble, called a vesicle. Janet Iwasa, University of Utah 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
Heart muscle with reprogrammed skin cells
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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. Deepak Srivastava, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, via CIRM View Media
3-D Architecture of a Synapse
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This image shows the structure of a synapse, or junction between two nerve cells in three dimensions. From the brain of a mouse. Anton Maximov, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA View Media
Four timepoints in gastrulation
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It has been said that gastrulation is the most important event in a person's life. Bob Goldstein, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 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
Nucleosome
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Like a strand of white pearls, DNA wraps around an assembly of special proteins called histones (colored) to form the nucleosome, a structure responsible for regulating genes and condensing DNA strand Karolin Luger, Colorado State University View Media
Floral pattern in a mixture of two bacterial species, Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli, grown on a semi-solid agar for 48 hours (photo 1)
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Floral pattern emerging as two bacterial species, motile Acinetobacter baylyi (red) and non-motile Escherichia coli (green), are grown together for 48 hours on 1% agar surface from a sma L. Xiong et al, eLife 2020;9: e48885 View Media
Dicty fruit
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Dictyostelium discoideum is a microscopic amoeba. A group of 100,000 form a mound as big as a grain of sand. Featured in The New Genetics. View Media
STORM image of axonal cytoskeleton
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This image shows the long, branched structures (axons) of nerve cells. Xiaowei Zhuang Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University View Media
String-like Ebola virus peeling off an infected cell
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After multiplying inside a host cell, the stringlike Ebola virus is emerging to infect more cells. Heinz Feldmann, Peter Jahrling, Elizabeth Fischer and Anita Mora, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health View Media
Genetic mosaicism in fruit flies
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Fat tissue from the abdomen of a genetically mosaic adult fruit fly. Genetic mosaicism means that the fly has cells with different genotypes even though it formed from a single zygote. Akhila Rajan, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center View Media
Glowing glycans
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Sugars light up the cells in this jaw of a 3-day-old zebrafish embryo and highlight a scientific first: labeling and tracking the movements of sugar chains called glycans in a living organism. Carolyn Bertozzi, University of California, Berkeley View Media
EM of yeast cell division
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Cell division is an incredibly coordinated process. Matthew West and Greg Odorizzi, University of Colorado View Media
