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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.

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

Wound healing in process

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Wound healing requires the action of stem cells. Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University View Media

Math from the heart

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Watch a cell ripple toward a beam of light that turns on a movement-related protein. View Media

Phagosome in macrophage cell

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A sensor particle being engulfed by a macrophage—an immune cell—and encapsuled in a compartment called a phagosome. The phagosome then fuses with lysosomes—another type of compartment. Yan Yu, Indiana University, Bloomington. 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

Dividing cell

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As this cell was undergoing cell division, it was imaged with two microscopy techniques: differential interference contrast (DIC) and confocal. The DIC view appears in blue and shows the entire cell. Dylan T. Burnette, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. 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

Dense tubular matrices in the peripheral endoplasmic reticulum (ER) 2

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Three-dimensional reconstruction of a tubular matrix in a thin section of the peripheral endoplasmic reticulum between the plasma membranes of the cell. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus, Virginia 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

Borrelia burgdorferi

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Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete, a class of long, slender bacteria that typically take on a coiled shape. Infection with this bacterium causes Lyme disease. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Microtubule dynamics in real time

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Cytoplasmic linker protein (CLIP)-170 is a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein that regulates microtubule dynamics and links microtubule ends to different intracellular structures. Gary Borisy, Marine Biology Laboratory View Media

Nucleus and rough ER

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The nucleus contains the DNA of eukaryotic cells. Judith Stoffer View Media

Yeast cells with nuclear envelopes and tubulin

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Yeast cells with nuclear envelopes shown in magenta and tubulin shown in light blue. The nuclear envelope defines the borders of the nucleus, which houses DNA. Alaina Willet, Kathy Gould’s lab, Vanderbilt University. View Media

Hippocampal neuron from rodent brain

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Hippocampal neuron from rodent brain with dendrites shown in blue. The hundreds of tiny magenta, green and white dots are the dendritic spines of excitatory synapses. Shelley Halpain, UC San Diego View Media

Bioluminescent imaging in adult zebrafish - lateral and overhead view

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Luciferase-based imaging enables visualization and quantification of internal organs and transplanted cells in live adult zebrafish. Kenneth Poss, Duke University View Media

Lily mitosis 03

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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

Tongue 1

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Microscopy image of tongue. One in a series of two, see image 5811 National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Fruit fly egg ooplasmic streaming

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Two fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) egg cells, one on each side of the central black line. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Mouse Brain Cross Section

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The brain sections are treated with fluorescent antibodies specific to a particular protein and visualized using serial electron microscopy (SEM). Anton Maximov, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA View Media

3D reconstruction of the Golgi apparatus in a pancreas cell

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Researchers used cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to capture images of a rat pancreas cell that were then compiled and color-coded to produce a 3D reconstruction. Xianjun Zhang, University of Southern California. View Media

Fruit fly brain responds to adipokines

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Drosophila adult brain showing that an adipokine (fat hormone) generates a response from neurons (aqua) and regulates insulin-producing neurons (red).
Akhila Rajan, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center View Media

Fruit fly nurse cells transporting their contents 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

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

Wound healing in process

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Wound healing requires the action of stem cells. Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University View Media

Color coding of the Drosophila brain - black background

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This image results from a research project to visualize which regions of the adult fruit fly (Drosophila) brain derive from each neural stem cell. Yong Wan from Charles Hansen’s lab, University of Utah. Data preparation and visualization by Masayoshi Ito in the lab of Kei Ito, University of Tokyo. View Media

Misfolded proteins in mitochondria, 3-D video

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Three-dimensional image of misfolded proteins (green) within mitochondria (red). Related to image 5878. Rong Li, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University 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

Cross section of a Drosophila melanogaster pupa

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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

Proteasome

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This fruit fly spermatid recycles various molecules, including malformed or damaged proteins. Sigi Benjamin-Hong, Rockefeller University View Media

Body toxins (with labels)

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Body organs such as the liver and kidneys process chemicals and toxins. These "target" organs are susceptible to damage caused by these substances. Crabtree + Company View Media

Golgi

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The Golgi complex, also called the Golgi apparatus or, simply, the Golgi. Judith Stoffer View Media

Retinal pigment epithelium derived from human ES cells

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This color-enhanced image is a scanning electron microscope image of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. David Hinton lab, University of Southern California, via CIRM View Media

Polarized cells- 02

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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

Arabidopsis leaf injected with a pathogen

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This is a magnified view of an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf eight days after being infected with the pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, which is closely related to crop pathogens that Jeff Dangl, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill View Media

Sea urchin embryo 06

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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

Bacteria shapes

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A colorized scanning electron micrograph of bacteria. Scanning electron microscopes allow scientists to see the three-dimensional surface of their samples. Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

A multicolored fish scale 1

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Each of the colored specs in this image is a cell on the surface of a fish scale. Chen-Hui Chen and Kenneth Poss, Duke University View Media

Human embryonic stem cells on feeder cells

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The nuclei stained green highlight human embryonic stem cells grown under controlled conditions in a laboratory. Blue represents the DNA of surrounding, supportive feeder cells. Julie Baker lab, Stanford University School of Medicine, via CIRM 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

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

Life in balance

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Mitosis creates cells, and apoptosis kills them. The processes often work together to keep us healthy. Judith Stoffer View Media

Lysosomes and microtubules

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Lysosomes (yellow) and detyrosinated microtubules (light blue). Lysosomes are bubblelike organelles that take in molecules and use enzymes to break them down. Melike Lakadamyali, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. View Media

How a microtubule builds and deconstructs

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A microtubule, part of the cell's skeleton, builds and deconstructs. View Media

Lily mitosis 13

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A light microscope image of cells 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

Intracellular forces

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Force vectors computed from actin cytoskeleton flow. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Developing nerve cells

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These developing mouse nerve cells have a nucleus (yellow) surrounded by a cell body, with long extensions called axons and thin branching structures called dendrites. Torsten Wittmann, University of California, San Francisco View Media

Bioluminescent imaging in adult zebrafish 04

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Luciferase-based imaging enables visualization and quantification of internal organs and transplanted cells in live adult zebrafish. View Media

Cell-like compartments emerging from scrambled frog eggs 4

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Cell-like compartments that spontaneously emerged 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

Cell curvature

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Rendering of the surface of an endothelial cell; membrane curvature is color coded. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Movie of in vitro assembly of a cell-signaling pathway

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T cells are white blood cells that are important in defending the body against bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Xiaolei Su, HHMI Whitman Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory View Media