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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.

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

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

Actin flow

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Speckle microscopy analysis of actin cytoskeleton force. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Anthrax bacteria (green) being swallowed by an immune system cell

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Multiple anthrax bacteria (green) being enveloped by an immune system cell (purple). Anthrax bacteria live in soil and form dormant spores that can survive for decades. Camenzind G. Robinson, Sarah Guilman, and Arthur Friedlander, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases View Media

Seeing signaling protein activation in cells 02

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Cdc42, a member of the Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) proteins, regulates multiple cell functions, including motility, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell morphology. Klaus Hahn, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Medical School View Media

Lily mitosis 12

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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

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

Protein involved in cell division from Mycoplasma pneumoniae

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Model of a protein involved in cell division from Mycoplasma pneumoniae. This model, based on X-ray crystallography, revealed a structural domain not seen before. Berkeley Structural Genomics Center, PSI View Media

Disrupted vascular development in frog embryos

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Disassembly of vasculature in kdr:GFP frogs following addition of 250 µM TBZ. Related to images 3404 and 3505. Hye Ji Cha, University of Texas at Austin View Media

A bundle of myelinated peripheral nerve cells (axons)

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The extracellular matrix (ECM) is most prevalent in connective tissues but also is present between the stems (axons) of nerve cells. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) 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

Bacillus anthracis being killed

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Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) cells being killed by a fluorescent trans-translation inhibitor, which disrupts bacterial protein synthesis. John Alumasa, Keiler Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University View Media

White Poppy

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A white poppy. View cropped image of a poppy here 3423. Judy Coyle, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center View Media

Lysosomes

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

Human blood cells with Borrelia hermsii, a bacterium that causes relapsing fever

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Relapsing fever is caused by a bacterium and transmitted by certain soft-bodied ticks or body lice. The disease is seldom fatal in humans, but it can be very serious and prolonged. NIAID View Media

X-ray crystallography (with labels)

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X-ray crystallography allows researchers to see structures too small to be seen by even the most powerful microscopes. Crabtree + Company 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

Bee venom toxin destroying a cell

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This video condenses 6.5 minutes into less than a minute to show how the toxin in bee venom, called melittin, destroys an animal or bacterial cell. Huey Huang, Rice University View Media

Hydra 05

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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

Serratezomine A

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A 3-D model of the alkaloid serratezomine A shows the molecule's complex ring structure. View Media

Fruit fly larvae brains showing tubulin

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Two fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) larvae brains with neurons expressing fluorescently tagged tubulin protein. Vladimir I. Gelfand, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. View Media

Biofilm formed by a pathogen

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A biofilm is a highly organized community of microorganisms that develops naturally on certain surfaces. Scott Chimileski, Ph.D., and Roberto Kolter, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School. View Media

Staphylococcus aureus aggregates on microstructured titanium surface

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Groups of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (blue) attached to a microstructured titanium surface (green) that mimics an orthopedic implant used in joint replacement. Paul Stoodley, The Ohio State University. View Media

Highlighted cells

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The cytoskeleton (green) and DNA (purple) are highlighed in these cells by immunofluorescence. Torsten Wittmann, Scripps Research Institute View Media

Snowflake yeast 1

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Multicellular yeast called snowflake yeast that researchers created through many generations of directed evolution from unicellular yeast. William Ratcliff, Georgia Institute of Technology. View Media

Painted chromosomes

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Like a paint-by-numbers picture, painted probes tint individual human chromosomes by targeting specific DNA sequences. Beth A. Sullivan, Duke University View Media

Cas9 protein involved in the CRISPR gene-editing technology

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In the gene-editing tool CRISPR, a small strand of RNA identifies a specific chunk of DNA. Janet Iwasa 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

Mitosis - interphase

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A cell in interphase, at the start of mitosis: Chromosomes duplicate, and the copies remain attached to each other. Judith Stoffer View Media

Single-cell “radios” image

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Individual cells are color-coded based on their identity and signaling activity using a protein circuit technology developed by the Coyle Lab. Scott Coyle, University of Wisconsin-Madison. View Media

Cytoskeleton

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The three fibers of the cytoskeleton--microtubules in blue, intermediate filaments in red, and actin in green--play countless roles in the cell. Judith Stoffer View Media

Petri dish

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The white circle in this image is a Petri dish, named for its inventor, Julius Richard Petri. H. Robert Horvitz and Dipon Ghosh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. View Media

Host infection stimulates antibiotic resistance

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This illustration shows pathogenic bacteria behave like a Trojan horse: switching from antibiotic susceptibility to resistance during infection. View Media

Measles virus proteins

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A cross section of the measles virus in which six proteins (enlarged on the outside of the virus) work together to infect cells. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. View Media

Three muscle fibers; the middle has a defect found in some neuromuscular diseases

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Of the three muscle fibers shown here, the one on the right and the one on the left are normal. The middle fiber is deficient a large protein called nebulin (blue). Christopher Pappas and Carol Gregorio, University of Arizona 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

How cilia do the wave

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Thin, hair-like biological structures called cilia are tiny but mighty. Zvonimir Dogic, Brandeis University View Media

Trajectories of labeled cell receptors

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Trajectories of single molecule labeled cell surface receptors. This is an example of NIH-supported research on single-cell analysis. Gaudenz Danuser, Harvard Medical School View Media

Anti-tumor drug ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) with hydrogens 02

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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

NCMIR mouse tail

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Stained cross section of a mouse tail. Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) 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

Z rings in bacterial division

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Lab-made liposomes contract where Z rings have gathered together and the constriction forces are greatest (arrows). Masaki Osawa, Duke University View Media

Natcher Building 03

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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

Chemokine CXCR4 receptor

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The receptor is shown bound to a small molecule peptide called CVX15. Raymond Stevens, The Scripps Research Institute 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

Histone deacetylases

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The human genome contains much of the information needed for every cell in the body to function. However, different types of cells often need different types of information. Amy Wu and Christine Zardecki, RCSB Protein Data Bank. 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

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

Artificial cilia exhibit spontaneous beating

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Researchers have created artificial cilia that wave like the real thing. Zvonimir Dogic View Media

Cisternae maturation model

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Animation for the cisternae maturation model of Golgi transport. Judith Stoffer View Media