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Conceptual artwork illustrating how humans may evolve in a future where oxygen levels decrease in the atmosphere. Detailed drawings of a modified heart, lungs, kidneys and ureters. In this scenario, lungs are reduced in size and allow inhalation for speech and smell only. The olfactory bulb (an area in the forebrain involved in sensing smell) and nerves compensate for the small lungs. In the urinary system, blood capacity increases in the kidneys. The ureters have increased in size and bacteria now produce oxygen from nitrite, a compound produced from nitrate which is found in urine. Carbon dioxide is expelled in the urine.



This image forms part of a project "Below 12" which is a speculative scenario where human beings have synthetically engineered their organs to adapt to an oxygen-depleted atmosphere, as deforestation, desertification and population over-growth are contributing to a fall in the long-term loss of oxygen sources. The lowest concentration of oxygen recorded in a populated area is 12%.



High levels of nitrites in urine today (nitrituria) can often indicate the presence of unwanted bacteria which can cause urinary tract infections.

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

Illustration titled 'Peace through anarchy' depicts the balance of inflammation in blood vessels. Three states; anarchy (Circle-A symbol; left), balance (yin-yang; centre) and peace (CND symbol; right) are shown, each essential for the health and wellbeing of our blood vessels. 


Anarchy represents the formation of networks of new blood vessels from existing ones (angiogenesis). This process is an essential part of normal growth and development and also plays a key role in wound healing after injury or disease.



Yin yang represents the constant fine balance the immune system faces, to detect and destroy foreign, harmful organisms which enter the body but at the same time leave the body's own healthy tissues unharmed. Inflammation is the body's response to tissue damage or injury e.g. vasculitis, inflammation of blood vessels.



Maintaining this balance results in healthy blood vessels. This peaceful state can however also become problematic if the body is unable to rapidly respond to disease.

Balance of inflammation in blood vessels, illustration

Collage of cross sections through various fruits and vegetables (star fruit, conker, garlic, tinda, pomegranate, artichoke, mandarin orange, squash, persimmon, strawberry, tomato, cabbage). Ultra-thin virtual slices through the fruit or vegetable were acquired by spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which reveals details inside the object 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 or vegetable.

Collage of mixed fruits and vegetables, MRI

This painting seeks to descibe Insomnia, one of over 80 recognised Sleep Disorders. Here, the mind of the insomniac is 'wired' as a result of overstimulation caused by overuse of digital technologies or caffeine. The imaginary focus of the microscope over the brain reveals high levels of electro-chemical activity along neurons and across synapes.

Insomnia

Multi-sized beads (constellation stained microspheres) tagged with different fluorescent colours. These beads are an easy test sample to prepare and image and allow the microscope to be set up, adjusted and calibrated without needing to use a precious sample for this. Horizontal image width is 448 microns.

Multi-sized beads (constellation stained), fluorescence

False-coloured scanning electron micrograph of caffeine crystals. Caffeine is a bitter, crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Beverages containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, and energy drinks, enjoy great popularity, and 90% of adults consume caffeine daily. Wellcome Image Awards 2012.

Caffeine crystals

Fluorescence immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to image normal (left) and cancerous (right) human colon tissue samples. Both samples were stained for the presence of protein biomarkers (QuiPCaMs), which are being researched in order to improve cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The presence of three different proteins, all biomarkers of cancer, was simultaneously detected using a different fluorescent marker (green, blue, red) for each. What appears to be a symmetrical pattern in normal tissue becomes more irregular in the tissue sample with disease. Each circle (whole tissue core) is 0.6 mm in diameter.

Detecting colon cancer in human tissues, LM

Polarised light micrograph of vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid). Vitamin C is an antioxidant and protects cells from damage, improves absorption of iron and helps the immune system to work properly. Our bodies cannot make vitamin C, so we have to obtain it from food and drink. Vitamin C is used to make collagen, a protein found in many different tissues in the body. Too little vitamin C means that not enough collagen can be made, which causes skin, cartilage, bone and blood vessels to start to break down. This rare disease is called scurvy. Width of image is 600 micrometres.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals, LM

Oil on canvas hand drawn coloured painting of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov born on 14 September 1849. Pavlov experimented on dogs and came up with the theory of conditioned response (the "Pavlovian response"). Pavlov's experiments showed that when a bell was rung at the same time as food was being presented to the dog in consecutive sequences, the dog will initially salivate when the food is presented. Later, the dog will come to associate the ringing of the bell with the presentation of the food and salivate upon the ringing of the bell. Bells were not the only stimuli he used to elicit this response and his writings record the use of a wide variety of stimuli, including electric shocks, whistles, metronomes and tuning forks. He was awarded The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904 "in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged". He is depicted here together with a dog and two bells.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Artist's impression of neuronal connections in a region of the mature cortex of the brain, based on a high resolution electron micrograph. Axons are shown in yellow, dendrites are shown in blue, synaptic vesicles are shown in gold or silver. 

Acrylic on canvas

Neuropil

Composite image of the head and brain from a healthy young adult. Different techniques have been used to visualise the same brain in three different ways as depicted here.



Left: 3D reconstruction from structural 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. In this semi-medial view, the front of the brain is on left of the image and the back of the brain is on the right.



Right: The brain is viewed from the front (coronal view) with the right hemisphere on the left of the image and the left hemisphere on the right side of the image. The right hemisphere is a 3D reconstruction from structural 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data (pink), while in the left hemisphere, nerve fibres have been visualised using diffusion imaging tractography (multi-coloured).



Lower: The head is viewed from the side (medial or saggital view) with the front of the head facing the left of the image and the back of the head on the right. A structural 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan has been overlaid to highlight different areas of the brain. A representation of the frontal cortex (pink; left), brain parcellation (yellow/green; centre upper), the occipital lobe and cerebellum (multi-coloured tractography nerve fibres; centre lower) and the parietal and occipital cortices (depicted as hubs and hedges; right) are visible.

Healthy brain, composite of tractography, MRI and artwork

Scanning electron micrograph showing the structure of the surface of a mosquito egg. Many mosquitoes lay eggs in wet environments either on top of the water or along the edge, such as rivers, swamps and lakes. Mosquitoes (Culicidae) are insect vectors that transmit diseases including malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. Horizontal image width is 65 microns.

Mosquito egg surface, SEM

Fluorescence immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to image this array of normal and cancerous human tissue samples (32 in total). Human prostate, colon, kidney, intestine and breast tissue sections were stained for the presence of protein biomarkers (QuiPCaMs), which are being researched in order to improve cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The presence of three different proteins, all biomarkers of cancer, was simultaneously detected using a different fluorescent marker (green, blue, red) for each. Each circle (whole tissue core) is 0.6 mm in diameter.

Detecting cancer in human tissues, LM

Light micrograph of part of a wasp's nest. A selected area of the nest was cut and mounted on a glass slide and then imaged using a dissecting microscope. The sample was not stained so the colours seen here are as they appeared. Wasps make their nests from chewed wood mixed with saliva, which gives them their distinctive papery walls. Wasps often build their nests in sheltered locations such as in roof spaces/lofts, under the eaves of a roof, in sheds and garages and underground. Width of image is 1 cm.

Wasp nest, LM

Hand drawn pen illustration in cartoon style. Image includes the word "help" and shows lots of heads shouting for help.

Asking for help, hand drawn illustration

3-dimensional handmade model of a brain made from electric wires and cables coiled together with a plug attached.

Wired, artwork of the brain

Scanning electron micrograph of 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. Small kidney stones are often passed naturally but larger stones can sometimes get lodged in the kidney or other parts of the urinary tract. Size of stone is 2 mm.

Kidney stone, SEM

Conceptual artwork illustrating how humans may evolve in a future where oxygen levels decrease in the atmosphere. Outline of a human body with detailed drawings of a modified heart, lungs, kidneys and ureters. In this scenario, lungs are reduced in size and allow inhalation for speech and smell only. The olfactory bulb (an area in the forebrain involved in sensing smell) and nerves compensate for the small lungs. In the urinary system, blood capacity increases in the kidneys. The ureters have increased in size and bacteria now produce oxygen from nitrite, a compound produced from nitrate which is found in urine. Carbon dioxide is expelled in the urine.



This image forms part of a project "Below 12" which is a speculative scenario where human beings have synthetically engineered their organs to adapt to an oxygen-depleted atmosphere, as deforestation, desertification and population over-growth are contributing to a fall in the long-term loss of oxygen sources. The lowest concentration of oxygen recorded in a populated area is 12%.



High levels of nitrites in urine today (nitrituria) can often indicate the presence of unwanted bacteria which can cause urinary tract infections.

9 artworks of the brain depicting personality and character traits. 
Top row: Woolly Thinking, Inflated Ideas, Clouded Thoughts
Middle row: Pea Brain, Bright Idea, Feather Brain
Bottom row: Open-minded, Deflated, Wired

9 artworks depicting the brain

The surface of a soap bubble showing reflected light interference as colours.

Soap bubble

Polarised light micrograph of vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid). Vitamin C is an antioxidant and protects cells from damage, improves absorption of iron and helps the immune system to work properly. Our bodies cannot make vitamin C, so we have to obtain it from food and drink. Vitamin C is used to make collagen, a protein found in many different tissues in the body. Too little vitamin C means that not enough collagen can be made, which causes skin, cartilage, bone and blood vessels to start to break down. This rare disease is called scurvy. Width of image is 1 mm.

Collage of cross sections through various fruits and vegetables (avocado, squash, cabbage, mandarin orange, pomegranate, garlic cloves, tomato, kiwi, star fruit, persimmon, artichoke). Ultra-thin virtual slices through the fruit or vegetable were acquired by spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which reveals details inside the object 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 or vegetable.

Composite image of the brain from a healthy young adult. The brain is viewed from the front (coronal view) with the right hemisphere on the left of the image and the left hemisphere on the right side of the image. The right hemisphere is a 3D reconstruction from structural 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data (pink), while in the left hemisphere, nerve fibres have been visualised using diffusion imaging tractography (multi-coloured). Diffusion weighted imaging is a specialised type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan which measures water diffusion in many directions in order to reconstruct the orientation of bundles of axons. Tractography is used to indirectly model these bundles of axons (nerve fibres), which transmit information between cortical regions at the brain's surface.

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Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

Balance of inflammation in blood vessels, illustration

Collage of mixed fruits and vegetables, MRI

Insomnia

Multi-sized beads (constellation stained), fluorescence

Caffeine crystals

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

Detecting colon cancer in human tissues, LM

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals, LM

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Neuropil

Healthy brain, composite of tractography, MRI and artwork

Mosquito egg surface, SEM

Detecting cancer in human tissues, LM

Wasp nest, LM

Asking for help, hand drawn illustration

Wired, artwork of the brain

Kidney stone, SEM

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

9 artworks depicting the brain

Soap bubble

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals, LM

Collage of mixed fruits and vegetables, MRI

Healthy brain, composite of tractography and MRI

Wasp nest, LM

Stay in the know

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More filters

Active filters:

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

Balance of inflammation in blood vessels, illustration

Collage of mixed fruits and vegetables, MRI

Insomnia

Multi-sized beads (constellation stained), fluorescence

Caffeine crystals

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

Detecting colon cancer in human tissues, LM

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals, LM

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Neuropil

Healthy brain, composite of tractography, MRI and artwork

Mosquito egg surface, SEM

Detecting cancer in human tissues, LM

Wasp nest, LM

Asking for help, hand drawn illustration

Wired, artwork of the brain

Kidney stone, SEM

Reduced oxygen affects human organs, conceptual artwork

9 artworks depicting the brain

Soap bubble

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals, LM

Collage of mixed fruits and vegetables, MRI

Healthy brain, composite of tractography and MRI

Wasp nest, LM

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

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Opening times:

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Wellcome collection