Habenular nucleus, zebrafish

Cartilage, trabecular bone and bone marrow in a mouse femur

Human heart (mitral valve) tissue displaying calcification

Thinking together. Neurons

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Viburnum japonicum Spreng. Caprifoliaceae Distribution: Evergreen Shrub. Distribution: Japan and Taiwan. No medicinal uses. The fruit is a 'famine food' eaten when all else fails. As other seeds/fruits of Viburnum species are listed as poisonous, and none are listed as 'edible', one can assume that the seeds/fruits of V. japonicum are also toxic. It does not appear vulnerable to pests or molluscs which may be due to irioid glycosides that are present in this genus produced as a defence against herbivores, fungi and bacteria. They have a bitter taste. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

NK T-cell lymphoma is a highly aggressive cancer of a specific type of immune cell called lymphoid cells, and is associated with the Epstein Barr virus (glandular fever). In later stages of the disease, the lymphoma can spread to the lymph nodes, as in this case. 

Valeriana pyrenaica L. Valerianaceae Distribution: Pyrenees. It has no medical use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

HeLa cell, immortal human epithelial cancer cell line, SEM

Breast cancer cell, SEM

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Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews 'Chang Zhi Hong' Distribution: China. The peony commemorates Paeon physician to the Gods of ancient Greece (Homer’s Iliad v. 401 and 899, circa 800 BC). Paeon came to be associated as being Apollo, Greek god of healing, poetry, the sun and much else, and father of Aesculapius/Asclepias. Paeonia suffruticosa was introduced to horticulture by Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820). A root extract in 25% alcohol has recently been licensed for use for the relief of menopausal hot flushing as an across-the-counter medication in Britain, despite inhibiting clotting mechanisms and causing uterine contractions
lack of toxicity, genotoxicity or genotoxicity trials, and the absence of proof that it works (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency website 2011). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Paeonia suffruticosa 'Chang Zhi Hong'

False-coloured scanning electron micrograph showing the surface of a single strand of hair which has been heavily bleached and straightened. This image shows the tip of a hair taken from the front of the head of a female of Caucasian descent. Although naturally curly, the hair has been repeatedly straightened. Exposure to hair colour or dye, heating and drying can over time damage the hair shaft (barbed wire-like appearance seen here) making the hair brittle and more prone to breakage. The hair shaft is made up of several layers of a tough protein called keratin. The outer layer (cuticle) is visible here and is made up of overlapping, tightly packed scales. Horizontal width of image is 829 micrometres.

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

Macro image of a typical lesion on the buccal mucosa seen in Lichen Planus.

Lichen Planus is an inflammatory, pruritic disease of the mucous membranes, which can be either generalized or localized. It is characterized by distinctive purplish, flat-topped papules. The lesions may be discrete or coalesce to form plaques. Histologically, there is a "saw-tooth" pattern of epidermal hyperplasia and vacuolar alteration of the basal layer of the epidermis along with an intense upper dermal inflammatory infiltrate composed predominantly of T-cells.

Lichen Planus Buccal Mucosa

"1000 Handshakes" is a performance piece during which the artist shakes hands with as many people as possible, gradually changing the invisible microbial community in the palm of his hand. Periodically, assistants take a swab from the skin, and the samples are analyzed in the lab to reveal how our contact with others shapes the microbes between us. This ongoing project has been performed in different cities around the world (including Copenhagen, Montreal, San Francisco, Perth, Berlin and Baltimore) as a way to map our collective microbiome using scientific data.



Production of the 'microbiome selfies' involved many different steps. Following the collection of the microbiome samples, bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified and sequenced to create the bioinformatic data shown in this series. The nodes of the networks represent bacterial DNA sequences, and two nodes are connected by an edge (line) when the bacterial DNA sequences have more than 95% similarity. The different colours correspond to distinct samples collected at every 50th handshake, from 0 to 1001. 



This image corresponds to the 12th image in this 21-part series, showing the extensive microbiome resulting from 550 handshakes.

The condition has been visualised using thermal infrared which allows us to see thermal energy or radiation more commonly referred to as heat.

The image shows the hand of a person experiencing symptoms of Raynaud's against that of a person who is unaffected



The hand affected with Raynaud's is on the right, the other hand is unaffected. This image shows both hands after exposure to cold water for 2 minutes, both hands appear to emit low levels of radiation. This image illustrates how the unaffected hand warms considerably quicker and begins to emit higher levels of radiation (heat) soon after exposure whilst the affected hand continues to emit lower levels.



Thermal Infrared is found within the Infrared region on the electromagnetic spectrum.



The different colours in the images represent different levels of thermal energy being emitted from the skin's surface. In this image the yellow and orange colours show a high level of thermal energy and the blue and purple a lower level. 



Raynaud's phenomenon (also referred to as Raynaud's syndrome or Raynaud's disease) affects the bodily extremities, most commonly the hands and feet. On exposure to cold or stress, the blood vessels at the extremities constrict or narrow restricting the flow of blood, this is called vasoconstriction. When this happens in the hands then the fingers will often change colour becoming very pale as less blood reaches the surface of the skin, this means there is also less radiation of heat from the affected area.

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Paeonia suffruticosa 'Chang Zhi Hong'

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

Lichen Planus Buccal Mucosa

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Raynaud's Phenomenon

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Images

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Paeonia suffruticosa 'Chang Zhi Hong'

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

Lichen Planus Buccal Mucosa

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Raynaud's Phenomenon

Wellcome Collection

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