This is a 9 day old zebrafish embryo stained with a dye called Alcian blue that binds to cartilage. The embryo is a mutant called nacre, which produces eye pigment (very dark blobs on either side of the skeleton-like cartilage) but lacks pigment elsewhere, making the staining easier to see. Stains like this are useful for monitoring how cartilage develops. For a look at how … Continue reading Blue fish that’s not a Bluefish

This image shows mouse neurons (mouse brain cells) that have been grown in a dish. http://arnold.usapowerlifting.com/indian-pharmacy-viagra/ Under the growth conditions in the dish, these neurons from beautiful outgrowths (green) called neurites that are reminiscent of the “wiring” between cells in the brain. The blue shows the neurons’ nuclei while the red highlights a protein (PQBP1) which is important in causing this neurite growth and is … Continue reading Mousy Wiring

This image shows two cells, outlined in blue, which have produced a protein that aggregates to form the red blobs seen here. This protein, Ataxin-1, is associated with neurological disorder. These cells and this protein are not naturally blue and red, but have had fluorescent proteins attached to them making them appear these colors. This common visualization technique results in stunning pictures of life at … Continue reading Beauty in Disease

This is a painting of my favorite statue by Louis-Ernest Barrias in Musée d’Orsay, Paris. As the title suggests, the beauty of nature is the inspiration for both art and science. I painted it with a drawing pad (WACOM’s Bamboo) attached to my computer using the software ArtRage 2.0. By controlling the texture, the pressure, the amount of “pigment”, the extent of “dilution” and many … Continue reading La Nature se dévoilant à la Science (Nature Unveiling Herself before Science)

Close-up of a live ~5 hour-old zebrafish embryo. Individual cells are distinguishable, as well as nuclei, visible as circles within each cell. At this developmental stage, cells are actively moving and dividing, and their fates have not yet been specified. Cells are roughly 10 microns in diameter. See this Flash article for more info on zebrafish: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2012/issue120/ Continue reading Zebrafish embryo

After only 24 hours of development, this live zebrafish embryo already has eyes, muscles, blood, and many other tissue types. See this Flash article for more info on zebrafish: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2012/issue120/ Continue reading Zebrafish embryo development

Cells in a ~5 hour-old zebrafish embryo. The cell membranes are labeled in red. The green dots are clumps of a signaling protein called FGF8 that has been fused to a green fluorescent protein. See this Flash article for more info on zebrafish: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2012/issue120/ Continue reading Zebrafish embryo cells