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Microscope: Zeiss LSM 800

This image shows the microstructure of beef mince tissue, where proteins are red and lipids are white.

Microscope: Leica DMI 6000 SP8

Macrophages - "Big Eaters" in Greek - are cells of the immune system that eat harmful bugs and debris within our body to keep us healthy.

This macrophage (blue) is eating beads (yellow) that have been coated with parts of fungi. Coincidentally, the macrophage is also preparing to undergo cell division as the nucleus (pink), which contains the cell’s DNA, is beginning to split into two.

Microscope: Zeiss Lightsheet Z1

This image shows that when human cancer cells are placed on a chicken embryo blood vessel network, they can form a tumour (top) that is fed nutrients from the embryo’s blood vessels (bottom, white).

This sample has also been treated with nanoparticles (green) that can penetrate the solid tumour. In future, these tumour-infiltrating particles could contain new cancer-killing drugs.

This image was taken in collaboration with Florence Tomasetig at the KGLMF.

Microscope: Leica SP8

These images demonstrate how the architecture of the mammary gland (breast) dramatically changes over the course of pregnancy and pup-bearing in a mouse. During pregnancy (left panel), the gland begins to develop bulbous structures that grow bigger and stretch over time as they start filling with the milk that will feed the young after birth (middle panel). Once the pups are old enough and no longer need their mother’s milk to survive, these structures will stop producing milk and deflate (right panel), ultimately destroying themselves to return the gland to a pre-pregnant state – ready for the next round of pregnancy.

Microscope: Leica SP8

Oxytocin is known as the ‘love’ hormone and is released into the mother’s system during breast-feeding. This video shows living, milk-producing structures (purple) in the mammary gland (breast) of mice that are in the late stages of pregnancy. When we add oxytocin to the gland, the amount of calcium within the cells increases (yellow). This causes the cells to contract, squeezing out the milk that would then (naturally) make its way into the feeding pup’s mouth. If we can learn more about calcium in these processes, we’ll be able to help mother’s experiencing difficulty breast-feeding.

Microscope: Olympus BX61

I am studying a type of bacteria – called Streptomyces – in Antarctic soil to understand the environmental impact of their activity there. A major focus of my work is on a new form of growth associated with the way they slide around.

This image shows a colony of Streptomyces, where the live bacterial cells within the colony fluoresce green.

I think this colony looks like the shape of Australia, and reminds me of the initiative and strong commitment of this country to understand the role of bacteria in the Antarctic ecosystem.

Microscope: Nikon Eclipse Ti2 Inverted Microscope

Each photo in this gallery shows a single, living cell. In the top row, the cells are grown on a flat surface and can more easily spread their little arms out, sensing the environment completely. Can you spot one that looks like a fish?

In the bottom three rows, the cells are grown on a bed of soft, plastic pillar structures that poke into the cell (white circles, sometimes with a dark ring, representing the accumulation of cellular components). Because it's harder for these cells to spread out, they tend to keep their arms to themselves and therefore adopt a more rounded shape.

I think this makes them look like emojis – how many faces can you see?

(Thank you to Jess Richardson for the gallery inspiration!)

Microscope: Zeiss motorised Axioplan 2ie

Yes, they can – and what’s more, it’s this sense of smell that helps the sperm reach the egg and makes fertilisation possible.Sperm contain olfactory molecules that interact with chemical odours generated by eggs in the female reproductive system.

This image shows two such olfactory molecules (red and green) in an activated and fertile human sperm cell. This image has been adapted from Makeyeva, Y et al., Immunocytochemical localisation of olfactory-signaling molecules in human and rat spermatozoa, Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry (Volume 68, Issue 7) pp. 491-513. Copyright 2020 (SAGE Publishing). DOI: 10.1369/0022155420939833.

Microscope: Ziess LSM 880

This video showcases the hind limb of a special strain of guinea pig that spontaneously develops osteoarthritis with age, just like us!

The femur is at the top and the proximal tibia is on the right. These bones are surrounded by muscle (green) and blood vessels. A glowing red tracer can be found in both the blood vessels and bone marrow; we use this tracer to investigate how osteoarthritis affects the travel of molecules from (and between) the blood and bone, as well as the entire joint. Through our work, we’ll be able to develop new treatments for osteoarthritis.

This video moves through 3192 individual images that have been stitched together and represents 43+ hours of continuous imaging on a microscope.

Microscopes: JPK Nanowizard (A Field of Proteins) / Zeiss 200M (Sensing Structure)

Each feature in this atomic force microscopy image is an individual protein that can form a pore on the surface of bacteria known as Deinococcus radiodurans. These proteins naturally form sheets of hexagonally packed features. If you look closely you can see that the pore in the centre of some individual proteins is in the open state. Each individual protein is approximately 4 nm wide (or 1/250000 mm).

Microscopes: JPK Nanowizard (A Field of Proteins) / Zeiss 200M (Sensing Structure)

Here a neuronal cell has been labelled with a green marker and grown on a flexible bed of cylinders coated with a connective tissue protein, labelled here in magenta. Extensions called neurites grow out from the cell over the tops of these flexible cylinders. We use this setup to study how the neurons react to "touch" by gently moving an individual cylinder under the neurite and measuring the cell response.

This work is under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and has been adapted from Poole, K et al. (2014), Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4520.

Microscope: Leica DMI 6000 SP8

Specialised cancer cells drive the spread of cancer around the body and the development of treatment-resistant disease. These aggressive cells, termed cancer stem cells, form three-dimensional spheroid structures (pictured). Spheroids are a useful tool to study the mechanisms that enable cancer stem cells to grow. We hope that these studies will uncover new therapeutic strategies to create improved therapies for patients.

Microscope: Talos Arctica Cryo-Electron Microscope

All living cells, starting from bacteria to humans, have biological energy generators that convert energy from the food we eat into the energy currency that the body can utilise. We used cryo-Electron Microscopy to study the detailed structure of this protein complex from bacteria which in turn enabled us to understand how this generator flexes and moves, providing a detailed molecular understanding of the functioning of the complex. Once we understand their fundamental biology, we can start thinking about what happens to the machine when things go wrong; for example, during a disease. The image is cryo-Electron micrograph and 2D classification of a part of the energy generator. The movie shows how we interpret the structural data obtained from the microscope to understand the steps and detailed working of the motor.

This video is under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License () and has been adapted from Sobti, M et al. (2021), Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25029-0 (figure labels removed).

Microscope: Talos Arctica Cryo-Electron Microscope

SARS-CoV2 virus uses the spike protein located on its surface to enter human cells; therefore, it is an ideal target for vaccines and antiviral treatment. Antibodies are molecules produced by our immune system to fight any kind of infection. We use cryo-Electron Microscopy to study lab-modified variants of human antibodies produced against the SARS-CoV2 spike protein, to choose the best molecules capable of neutralising COVID-19 virus and hence be used for treating COVID-19 positive patients. The image is a cryo-Electron micrograph and 2D classification of the SARS-CoV2 spike protein in association with antibodies. The movie shows purified SARS-CoV2 spike protein bound to two such antibodies.

Microscope: Zeiss Lightsheet Z1

This animation was created from tens of thousands of 2D images stitched and stacked together to reconstruct the 3D architecture of a tumour. To capture the images the tumour was made transparent to allow light to penetrate through it. The blood vessels (red) and type of immune cell (green) were modified to express a protein that emits light when excited by a laser. The immune cells seem to be floating inside the tumour but they are actually squished between the transparent tumour cells.

Reprinted from Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Vol 141, Tikoo S et al., Amelanotic B16-F10 Melanoma Compatible with Advanced Three-Dimensional Imaging Modalities, P2090-2094, Copyright (2021), with permission from Elsevier. Home Page: .

Microscope: Zeiss Lightsheet Z1

This image represents the arteriole blood vessel network (red) of a rat spinal cord and some of the most external layers of the astrocytes composing it (green). The spinal cord was chemically treated to become transparent prior to imaging. The images are snapshots of the 3D rendered data set acquired at different angles.

This work is done in collaboration with Professor Lynne Bilston from NeuRA institute.

Microscope: Zeiss 900

Pancreatic tumours are known for stimulating connective tissue scarring (green). This response not only makes the tumours more aggressive, but also renders tumours largely inaccessible by cancer-killing drugs. We are looking for new ways to stop both the cancer cells (red) and the scarred tissue (green), and as our protein-of-interest marks both populations (yellow) it could be a great target. As such, our work provides us with a strategic insight for the development of new, tumour-penetrating drugs.

Reprinted from Cancer Research, 2021, 81(13), 3461-3479, Sharbeen G et al., Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Determine Response to SLC7A11 Inhibition, with permission from AACR.