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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.

Magnetic Janus particle activating a T cell

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A Janus particle being used to activate a T cell, a type of immune cell. Yan Yu, Indiana University, Bloomington. 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

Natcher Building 01

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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

Catalase diversity

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Catalases are some of the most efficient enzymes found in cells. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. View Media

Influenza virus attaches to host membrane (with labels)

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

Mitosis and meiosis compared-labeled

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Meiosis is used to make sperm and egg cells. During meiosis, a cell's chromosomes are copied once, but the cell divides twice. Judith Stoffer View Media

Sponge

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Many of today's medicines come from products found in nature, such as this sponge found off the coast of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. Phil Baran, Scripps Research Institute View Media

Proteins related to myotonic dystrophy

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Myotonic dystrophy is thought to be caused by the binding of a protein called Mbnl1 to abnormal RNA repeats. Manuel Ares, University of California, Santa Cruz 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

Mouse heart muscle cells 02

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This image shows neonatal mouse heart cells. These cells were grown in the lab on a chip that aligns the cells in a way that mimics what is normally seen in the body. Kara McCloskey lab, University of California, Merced, via CIRM View Media

Bacterial spore

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A spore from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis shows four outer layers that protect the cell from harsh environmental conditions. Patrick Eichenberger, New York University View Media

Fungal lipase (2)

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

Yeast art depicting the New York City skyline

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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. Michael Shen, Ph.D., Jasmine Temple, Leslie Mitchell, Ph.D., and Jef Boeke, Ph.D., New York University School of Medicine; and Nick Phillips, James Chuang, Ph.D., and Jiarui Wang, Johns Hopkins University. View Media

Multicolor STORM

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In 2006, scientists developed an optical microscopy technique enabling them to clearly see individual molecules within cells. In 2007, they took the technique, abbreviated STORM, a step further. Xiaowei Zhuang, Harvard University View Media

Smooth muscle from human ES cells

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These smooth muscle cells were derived from human embryonic stem cells. The nuclei are stained blue, and the proteins of the cytoskeleton are stained green. Alexey Terskikh lab, Burnham Institute for Medical Research, via CIRM 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

Dimeric ferredoxin-like protein from an unidentified marine microbe

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This is the first structure of a protein derived from the metagenomic sequences collected during the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling project. Joint Center for Structural Genomics 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

Young squids

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Real-time movie of young squids. Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory/University of Chicago. View Media

Tracking cells in a gastrulating zebrafish embryo

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During development, a zebrafish embryo is transformed from a ball of cells into a recognizable body plan by sweeping convergence and extension cell movements. This process is called gastrulation. Liliana Solnica-Krezel, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. View Media

Plant resistosome

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The research organism Arabidopsis thaliana forms a large molecular machine called a resistosome to fight off infections. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. View Media

Network diagram of genes, cellular components and processes (unlabeled)

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This image shows the hierarchical ontology of genes, cellular components and processes derived from large genomic datasets. From Dutkowski et al. Janusz Dutkowski and Trey Ideker View Media

Pollen grains: male germ cells in plants and a cause of seasonal allergies

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Those of us who get sneezy and itchy-eyed every spring or fall may have pollen grains, like those shown here, to blame. Edna, Gil, and Amit Cukierman, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. View Media

NCMIR Intestine-1

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The small intestine is where most of our nutrients from the food we eat are absorbed into the bloodstream. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) View Media

SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid dimer

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In SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, nucleocapsid is a complex molecule with many functional parts. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. View Media

Cell-free protein synthesizers

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Both instruments shown were developed by CellFree Sciences of Yokohama, Japan. Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics View Media

Stretch detectors

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Muscles stretch and contract when we walk, and skin splits open and knits back together when we get a paper cut. Christopher Chen, University of Pennsylvania View Media

Anti-tumor drug ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) with hydrogens 04

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Ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743, brand name Yondelis), was discovered and isolated from a sea squirt, Ecteinascidia turbinata, by NIGMS grantee Kenneth Rinehart at the University of Illinois. Timothy Jamison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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

Map of protein structures 02

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A global "map of the protein structure universe" indicating the positions of specific proteins. Berkeley Structural Genomics Center, PSI View Media

Zika virus

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Zika virus is shown in cross section at center left. On the outside, it includes envelope protein (red) and membrane protein (magenta) embedded in a lipid membrane (light purple). Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. 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

Cryo-electron tomography of a Caulobacter bacterium

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3D image of Caulobacter bacterium with various components highlighted: cell membranes (red and blue), protein shell (green), protein factories known as ribosomes (yellow), and storage granules Peter Dahlberg, Stanford University. View Media

Pigment cells in the fin of pearl danio

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

Life of an AIDS virus (with labels and stages)

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HIV is a retrovirus, a type of virus that carries its genetic material not as DNA but as RNA. Crabtree + Company 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

Tiny points of light in a quantum dot

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This fingertip-shaped group of lights is a microscopic crystal called a quantum dot. About 10,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper, the dot radiates brilliant colors under ultraviolet light. Sandra Rosenthal and James McBride, Vanderbilt University, and Stephen Pennycook, Oak Ridge National Laboratory View Media

800 MHz NMR magnet

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Scientists use nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) to determine the detailed, 3D structures of molecules. Asokan Anbanandam, University of Kansas 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

Biopixels

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Bioengineers were able to coax bacteria to blink in unison on microfluidic chips. This image shows a small chip with about 500 blinking bacterial colonies or biopixels. Jeff Hasty Lab, UC San Diego View Media

Red blood cells

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This image of human red blood cells was obtained with the help of a scanning electron microscope, an instrument that uses a finely focused electron beam to yield detailed images of the surface of a sa Tina Weatherby Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa View Media

Lily mitosis 09

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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

Hawaiian bobtail squid

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An adult Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, swimming next to a submerged hand. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Carnegie Institution for Science/California Institute of Technology, and Edward G. Ruby, California Institute of Technology. View Media

Lily mitosis 05

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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

Myosin V binding to actin

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This simulation of myosin V binding to actin was created using the software tool Protein Mechanica. Simbios, NIH Center for Biomedical Computation at Stanford View Media

Fruit fly ovarioles

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Three fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) ovarioles (yellow, blue, and magenta) with egg cells visible inside them. Ovarioles are tubes in the reproductive systems of female insects. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Cysteine dioxygenase from mouse

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Model of the mammalian iron enzyme cysteine dioxygenase from a mouse. Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, PSI View Media

Atomic-level structure of the HIV capsid

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This animation shows atoms of the HIV capsid, the shell that encloses the virus's genetic material. Juan R. Perilla and the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign View Media

Cytochrome structure with anticancer drug

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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. Emily Scott, University of Kansas View Media

Dinosaur evolutionary tree

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Analysis of 68 million-year-old collagen molecule fragments preserved in a T. Chris Organ, Harvard University View Media