Cartilage, trabecular bone and bone marrow in a mouse femur

Cross-section through a bamboo stem, LM

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Formation of the inner mass in an early mouse embryo, LM

Looking up from underneath a microscope

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.

Yeast cell plasma membrane, Freeze fracture and etching TEM

Kiwi, sagittal view, MRI

Early mouse embryo preimplantation, LM

Arabidopsis thaliana plant cells containing chloroplasts, LM

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A light micrograph of a centric diatom. Diatoms are photosynthesising algae that live in most aquatic environments, both fresh and salt water. They are non-motile and are restricted to shallow waters as they require sunlight for photosythesis. A centric diatom is one that displays radial symmetry.

Colour diatom

"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.

Kiwi, axial view, MRI

Collage of multiple cross sections through a single artichoke. The artichoke has been virtually sliced along a horizontal axis from left to right, giving you a bird's eye view into the centre of the vegetable (axial or transverse plane). A series of sequential ultra-thin slices through the entire vegetable 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 artichoke 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 vegetable.

Artichoke, axial view, MRI

Cross section through a Chrysanthemum flower bud. The stamen (male reproductive organ of a flower which produces pollen), layers forming the anther walls and developing pollen grains inside the anthers are visible here. Pollen grains contain the male gamete and are produced by the anther in a flower. They are transferred from one flower to another (pollination) so that fertilisation of the female gametes can occur (sexual plant reproduction). Pollen is a common trigger of hay fever or seasonal allergies. Width of image is 750 micrometres.

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Works

Colour diatom

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Kiwi, axial view, MRI

Artichoke, axial view, MRI

Developing pollen grains in a Chrysanthemum flower bud, LM

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Wellcome uses cookies.

Circles

Images

Works

Colour diatom

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Kiwi, axial view, MRI

Artichoke, axial view, MRI

Developing pollen grains in a Chrysanthemum flower bud, LM

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times