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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.

3D reconstruction of a tubular matrix in peripheral endoplasmic reticulum

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Detailed 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

DDR2 Receptors Attach to Collagen in Breast Tumor

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On the left, the boundary of a breast tumor (yellow) attaches to collagen fibers that are closest to it (green) using DDR2. On the right, a tumor without DDR2 remains disconnected from the collagen. Callie Corsa and Suzanne Ponik, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis View Media

Focal adhesions

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Cells walk along body surfaces via tiny "feet," called focal adhesions, that connect with the extracellular matrix. Crabtree + Company View Media

Nerve cell

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Nerve cells have long, invisibly thin fibers that carry electrical impulses throughout the body. Some of these fibers extend about 3 feet from the spinal cord to the toes. Judith Stoffer View Media

Molecular model of freshly made Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)

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Viruses have been the foes of animals and other organisms for time immemorial. Boon Chong Goh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Media

NCMIR Tongue 2

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Microscopy image of a tongue. One in a series of two, see image 5810 National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Centrioles anchor cilia in planaria

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Centrioles (green) anchor cilia (red), which project on the surface of pharynx cells of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Juliette Azimzadeh, University of California, San Francisco View Media

Dicer generates microRNAs (with labels)

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The enzyme Dicer generates microRNAs by chopping larger RNA molecules into tiny Velcro®-like pieces. MicroRNAs stick to mRNA molecules and prevent the mRNAs from being made into proteins. Crabtree + Company View Media

Anchor cell in basement membrane

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An anchor cell (red) pushes through the basement membrane (green) that surrounds it. Elliott Hagedorn, Duke University. View Media

Multivesicular bodies containing intralumenal vesicles assemble at the vacuole 1

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Collecting and transporting cellular waste and sorting it into recylable and nonrecylable pieces is a complex business in the cell. Matthew West and Greg Odorizzi, University of Colorado View Media

Protein formation

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Proteins are 3D structures made up of smaller units. DNA is transcribed to RNA, which in turn is translated into amino acids. NIGMS, with the folded protein illustration adapted from Jane Richardson, Duke University Medical Center View Media

Self-organizing proteins

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Under the microscope, an E. coli cell lights up like a fireball. Each bright dot marks a surface protein that tells the bacteria to move toward or away from nearby food and toxins. View Media

Q fever bacteria in an infected cell

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This image shows Q fever bacteria (yellow), which infect cows, sheep, and goats around the world and can infect humans, as well. When caught early, Q fever can be cured with antibiotics. Robert Heinzen, Elizabeth Fischer, and Anita Mora, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health View Media

Lipid raft

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Researchers have learned much of what they know about membranes by constructing artificial membranes in the laboratory. Judith Stoffer View Media

DNase

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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

Virtual snow world

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Glide across an icy canyon, where you see smiling snowmen and waddling penguins. Toss a snowball, hear it smash against an igloo, and then watch it explode in bright colors. David Patterson and Hunter Hoffmann, University of Washington 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

Bovine milk alpha-lactalbumin (2)

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Crystals of bovine milk alpha-lactalbumin protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media

Planarian stem cell colony

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Planarians are freshwater flatworms that have powerful abilities to regenerate their bodies, which would seem to make them natural model organisms in which to study stem cells. Peter Reddien, Whitehead Institute View Media

Introns

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Genes are often interrupted by stretches of DNA (introns, blue) that do not contain instructions for making a protein. Crabtree + Company View Media

CRISPR Illustration

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This illustration shows, in simplified terms, how the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be used as a gene-editing tool. National Institute of General Medical Sciences. View Media

Aldolase

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2.5Å resolution reconstruction of rabbit muscle aldolase collected on a FEI/Thermo Fisher Titan Krios with energy filter and image corrector. National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy http://nramm.nysbc.org/nramm-images/ Source: Bridget Carragher View Media

A Growing Bacterial Biofilm

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A growing Vibrio cholerae (cholera) biofilm. Cholera bacteria form colonies called biofilms that enable them to resist antibiotic therapy within the body and other challenges to their growth. Jing Yan, Ph.D., and Bonnie Bassler, Ph.D., Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. View Media

Natcher Building 02

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

Sepsis Infographic

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Sepsis is the body’s overactive and extreme response to an infection. More than 1.7 million people get sepsis each year in the United States. National Institute of General Medical Sciences View Media

Cas4 nuclease protein structure

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This wreath represents the molecular structure of a protein, Cas4, which is part of a system, known as CRISPR, that bacteria use to protect themselves against viral invaders. Fred Dyda, NIDDK View Media

Yeast cell

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A whole yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cell viewed by X-ray microscopy. Inside, the nucleus and a large vacuole (red) are visible. Carolyn Larabell, University of California, San Francisco and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory View Media

Ribonuclease P structure

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Ribbon diagram showing the structure of Ribonuclease P with tRNA. PDB entry 3Q1Q, molecular modeling by Fred Friedman, NIGMS View Media

Cone snail shell

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A shell from the venomous cone snail Conus omaria, which lives in the Pacific and Indian oceans and eats other snails. Kerry Matz, University of Utah View Media

Mapping disease spread

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How far and fast an infectious disease spreads across a community depends on many factors, including transportation. These U.S. David Chrest, RTI International View Media

Computer model of cell membrane

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A computer model of the cell membrane, where the plasma membrane is red, endoplasmic reticulum is yellow, and mitochondria are blue. Bridget Wilson, University of New Mexico View Media

Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum

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A computer model shows how the endoplasmic reticulum is close to and almost wraps around mitochondria in the cell. The endoplasmic reticulum is lime green and the mitochondria are yellow. Bridget Wilson, University of New Mexico View Media

Sphingolipid S1P1 receptor

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

Microtubules in hippocampal neurons

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Microtubules (magenta) in neurons of the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. Microtubules are strong, hollow fibers that provide structural support to cells. Melike Lakadamyali, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. View Media

Genetic patchworks

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Each point in these colorful patchworks represents the correlation between two sleep-associated genes in fruit flies. Susan Harbison and Trudy Mackay, North Carolina State University View Media

DNA and actin in cultured fibroblast cells

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DNA (blue) and actin (red) in cultured fibroblast cells. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

Migrating pigment cells

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Pigment cells are cells that give skin its color. David Parichy, University of Washington 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

Influenza virus attaches to host membrane

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Influenza A infects a host cell when hemagglutinin grips onto glycans on its surface. Crabtree + Company 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

Fruit fly ovary

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In this image of a stained fruit fly ovary, the ovary is packed with immature eggs (with DNA stained blue). The cytoskeleton (in pink) is a collection of fibers that gives a cell shape and support. Crystal D. Rogers, Ph.D., University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine; and Mariano A. Loza-Coll, Ph.D., California State University, Northridge. View Media

Hsp33 figure 2

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Featured in the March 15, 2012 issue of Biomedical Beat. Related to Hsp33 Figure 1, image 3354. Ursula Jakob and Dana Reichmann, University of Michigan View Media

Pig trypsin (2)

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A crystal of porcine trypsin protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures. Alex McPherson, University of California, Irvine View Media

Repairing DNA

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Like a watch wrapped around a wrist, a special enzyme encircles the double helix to repair a broken strand of DNA. Tom Ellenberger, Washington University School of Medicine View Media

Chromosome inside nucleus (with labels)

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The long, stringy DNA that makes up genes is spooled within chromosomes inside the nucleus of a cell. Crabtree + Company View Media

Fruit fly egg chamber

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A fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) egg chamber with microtubules shown in green and actin filaments shown in red. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Bottles of warfarin

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In 2007, the FDA modified warfarin's label to indicate that genetic makeup may affect patient response to the drug. The widely used blood thinner is sold under the brand name Coumadin®. Alisa Machalek, NIGMS/NIH View Media

Serum albumin structure 2

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Serum albumin (SA) is the most abundant protein in the blood plasma of mammals. SA has a characteristic heart-shape structure and is a highly versatile protein. Wladek Minor, University of Virginia View Media