Scientists may be in a lab all day, but that doesn't mean they're not gazing at a stunning view.
The annual Art of Science exhibition brings together the most beautiful imagery from the Walter and Eliza Institute of Medical Research, and includes cancer cells, mouse mammaries and sperm tails.
Institute former director Suzanne Cory said research required imagination.
"The ability to visualise intricate biological systems can give scientists important insights into how diseases develop, spread, and respond to treatment," Cory said.
"The Institute's advanced imaging technologies and computational analysis allow researchers to 'see' at the molecular level, where the structures of cells and organs can be carefully examined in unprecedented detail."
Researcher Casey Ah-Cann came across this vision as she examined an ultra thin
section of a lung cancer tumour. Casey produced the fluorescing image using a
technique called fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH). Fluorescent probes helped
Casey to detect the amplification of genes that might have caused these lung cells to
become cancerous.
(credit:Casey Ah-Cann / Walter)In this image blood vessels in the retina of the eye wiggle out from the eye’s centre
like a vibrant tangle of octopus arms. A fluorescent probe has highlighted the inner
blood vessel linings (stained yellow) and the structural support matrix that keeps
them intact (red) with cell nuclei stained blue. Such images help researchers
understand abnormalities underlying eye diseases including age-related macular
degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and cancer, and can result in novel approaches
for their treatment and prevention.
(credit:Emma Watson and Evelyn Trouson)This intricate image evokes ideas of an exquisite coral or delicate lace. Tilt your head and you see magenta-tipped trees. It is in fact a blood vessel network removed from an eye as a fine web to allow in-depth study of blood vessel growth. The network was laid out on a glass slide and observed under a confocal microscope. The blood vessels of the retina were revealed using a fluorescent probe highlighting the inner lining of the blood vessels (in cyan) and the supporting matrix that keeps the blood vessels intact (green). Cell nuclei are stained in magenta.This intricate image evokes ideas of an exquisite coral or delicate lace. Tilt your head and you see magenta-tipped trees. It is in fact a blood vessel network removed from an eye as a fine web to allow in-depth study of blood vessel growth. The network was laid out on a glass slide and observed under a confocal microscope. The blood vessels of the retina were revealed using a fluorescent probe highlighting the inner lining of the blood vessels (in cyan) and the supporting matrix that keeps the blood vessels intact (green). Cell nuclei are stained in magenta.
(credit:Emma Watson and Evelyn Trouson)This startlingly beautiful image resembles a galaxy of snowflakes or perhaps a frosty window. It is of a crystallised drug molecule. The image was taken during a high-throughput screen for drugs effective against colon cancer.. In this case it showed that the concentration of the drug was too high, as it had started to form crystals. Walter White, incidentally, was the dying chemistry teacher in the TV series ‘Breaking Bad’, who makes blue-tinged crystal methamphetamine.
(credit:Karl Leuchowius)As if floating in the stratosphere, the objects in the foreground of this image contrast sharply with the ethereal cloud-like shapes behind them. All are protein crystals suspended in agar jelly and grown in salt and vinegar. The white puffs are clusters of needles from protein that crystallised too quickly. The crystals below them have formed more slowly and are better ordered. Such images are used to further knowledge of the structure of proteins in the immune system. The photo was taken with an iPhone 6 through the eyepiece of a Leica MZ7.5 microscope with polarising filters at 10x magnification.
(credit:Melissa Call)When cells divide and grow they stick together in clusters – clones – belonging to the same family. This image is a patchwork of the hundreds of clones that make up a tumour. This tumour formed after three breast cancer cell lines – stained in blue, red or green – were allowed to grow together. By marking the cells with different colours the researchers could gain insights into how cells within a tumour are arranged and grow; and whether the tight family bonds aid the tumour’s growth and survival.
(credit:Caleb Dawson)This image, with its central tree-like structure and splashes of colour that mimic autumn leaves, wouldn’t look out of place in a printmakers’ gallery. It captures the process of myogenesis or muscle formation. Studying genes involved in myogenesis allows scientists to discover therapies to treat disorders such as muscular dystrophy when patients experience progressive weakening of muscles. Finding a tree-shaped slide image was a happy coincidence for postgraduate researcher Marilou Barrios, a nature lover. Marilou loves going outside and seeing the trees lining the road after an exhausting day in the lab.
(credit:Marilou Barrios)Meet an organoid. This extraordinary structure, captured using 3D imaging technology, is engineered breast tissue. It was grown from a single purified mouse mammary stem cell to form a highly organised and complex structure made up of millions of cells. This so closely mimics actual breast tissue that it can be stimulated with a hormone to produce milk (coloured red in the foreground). Such structures, commonly called organoids, sound the stuff of science fiction but have a variety of useful applications including drug screening in cancer research. They are also a good model for investigating stem cell function.
(credit:Paul Jamieson)This mesmerising image has us searching for order as we try to trace the harlequin trails twisting and turning against the dark background. The image is of immune cells – the tiny cells that defend our bodies from invading infection and disease. Immune cells are constantly moving around the body searching for signals that alert them to possible intruders, interacting with each other, ever ready to form a response. This experiment used time-lapse imaging to track the migration of immune cells for eight hours. Imaging software identified individual cell tracks and coloured the cells within these tracks. Such research helps scientists understand how cells use signals.
(credit:Joanna Groom)