fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Fluorescence micrograph of an assay for cell fusion. Pig kidney cells were labeled with two different dyes (red, green) and mixed together to grow on a plastic dish. The cells were then infected with a strain of pseudo-rabies virus with a fluorescently labeled virus component (a capsid protein fused to cyan fluorescent protein, rendered as blue in this image). If spread of infection caused cell fusion, yellow-orange cells would be expected as the red dyes mix with the green ones.

Image Source: Princeton Art of Science, 2009 Competition.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Metabolomic Eye

Using a technique called computational molecular phenotyping (CMP), neuroscientist Bryan William Jones at the University of Utah depicts the diversity of cells inside a mouse eye retina. CMP maps different kinds of tissue by measuring concentrations of common organic molecules, in this case using antibodies that stained against taurine (red), glutamine (green) and glutamate (blue). The image, which captures both anatomical context and a view of normal tissue functioning, won Jones first place in photography in the 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the National Science Foundation  and the journal Science.

(Source: ucsdhealthsciences)

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Wide-field multi-photon fluorescence image of a rat hippocampus stained to reveal the distribution of glia (cyan), neurofilaments (green) and cell nuclei (yellow).

Image Source: the Whole Brain Catalogue.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Villi of the small intestine.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a human heart valve and strings. Pictured here is the left ventricle. The heart strings (thread-like structures in the image) are known as the chordae tendineae, and are controlled by the papilliary muscles. The structures at centre, known as trabeculae carneae, are muscular, columnar protrusions found on the internal surface of the ventricles.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

SEM image of bacteria on the surface of a human tongue.

Source: here.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Gametogenesis in Lilium Anther. 

(Source: myampgoesto11)

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

The dengue virus – the first flavivirus structure to be determined – reveals an architectural structure that is different from any other virus that has been seen. The virus surface is unusually smooth and its membrane is completely enclosed by a protein shell. This computer illustration shows how the major protein, called “E” for envelope protein, organizes itself to form a protective shell around the virus. The protein is color-coded blue, green and yellow to show the three specific domains of the protein. The protein shell serves as a cage for the genetic material inside.

Source (Purdue University)

(Source: scienceisbeauty)

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

R. Zhang used a probabilistic Java code to make colour-coordinated models of different types of neural networks in an attempt to understand how neurons connect. This model shows the program’s interpretation of neural networks in the brain, which have their own specific parameters.

fuckyeahmolecularbiology:

Emergence

Emergence describes the spontaneous order that can arise out of simple interactions. Although not a particularly prominent topic in molecular and cell biology, examples of emergent phenomena in nature include flocks of birds, swarms of bees, and ordered crystals in freezing water. The theories behind this demonstrated collective behaviour are difficult to test due to the difficulty in controlling all variables and interactions. A recent paper, however, used emergence at a cellular level to control for all interactions with only a few purified components.

Sumino and colleagues used purified microtubules propelled by dynein motors that were bound to a glass surface. Neighbouring microtubules interacted by aligning with each other. Increased density of these local interactions resulted in the self-organisation of microtubules into vortices about 400μm in diameter, with microtubules rotating and sliding past each other in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The image above shows a lattice formed from many of these vortices over time (three air bubbles are present with thicker edges).

The full paper can be found in Nature.