Cross-section through a bamboo stem, LM

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Poppy seed (Papaver somniferum)

Clonal tracking, mouse fibroblasts

Looking up from underneath a microscope

Garlic, sagittal view, MRI

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals imaged by cross polarised light microscopy. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is important for collagen formation and wound healing. A good source of vitamin C is found in a variety of fruit and vegetables including citrus friuts, brussels sprouts and broccoli. It is a water soluble vitamin that cannot be stored in the body so needs to be ingested regularly. A lack of Vitamin C causes scurvy. 100X image magnification.

Snowflake

Yeast cell plasma membrane, Freeze fracture and etching TEM

Kiwi, sagittal view, MRI

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Density-dependent colour scanning electron micrograph of the surface of a histological slide from a kidney stone (nephrolithiasis). Kidney stones form when salts, minerals and chemicals in the urine (for example calcium, oxalate and uric acid) crystallise and solidify. This dense, calcified material is visible here. Micrographs were coloured in post-processing by combining images acquired by two modes of image acquisition that use different kinds of electron microscope detectors. Colours relate to the different detectors and how they interact with the material. Horizontal width of image is 6.5 microns.

Kidney stone

Watercolour and ink on paper illustration of HIV assembly and budding. Once additional viral RNA and proteins have been made inside an infected target cell (usually CD4 T cells, a type of white blood cell found in the immune system), they are assembled and packaged together into new virus particles (virions) ready for release. HIV Gag protein and gag-pol (red) form an ordered arrangement below the cell membrane (white/grey) capturing the HIV genome (yellow). Viral proteins Vpr and Vif (purple; lower middle) are also incorporated. The assembled virus then pinches off from the cell picking up cell membrane on the way to create the viral envelope. Width of image is approximately 100 nm.



This image forms part of a series of illustrations which capture HIV at eight different points in the viral life cycle as it infects a cell and replicates.

HIV assembly and budding, HIV viral life cycle, illustration

"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.

Collage of multiple cross sections through a single kiwi. The kiwi has been virtually sliced along a horizontal axis from left to right, giving you a bird's eye view into the centre of the fruit (axial or transverse plane). A series of sequential ultra-thin slices through the entire fruit were taken and selected slices from that series are shown here. These images were acquired by spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which reveals details inside the kiwi without damaging it. The images are digitally coloured where contrast corresponds to MRI signal intensity and hue was changed to match the natural colour of the fruit.

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Kidney stone

HIV assembly and budding, HIV viral life cycle, illustration

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Kiwi, axial view, MRI

Kidney stone

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Wellcome uses cookies.

Pattern

Images

Works

Kidney stone

HIV assembly and budding, HIV viral life cycle, illustration

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Kiwi, axial view, MRI

Kidney stone

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times