“String-like Ebola virus peeling off an infected cell.” Heinz Feldmann, Peter Jahrling, Elizabeth Fischer and Anita Mora, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
‘Life: Magnified’ is an exhibit of scientific images “showing cells and other scenes of life magnified by as much as 50,000 times.”
It’s on display at Washington Dulles International Airport’s Gateway Gallery through November 2014, and in this online gallery. The images feature brain, blood, eye, skin, liver, and muscle cells, each of which teach different lessons about how life works.
“A mammalian eye has approximately 70 different cell types.” Bryan William Jones and Robert E. Marc, University of Utah
All life is made of cells. Your body contains trillions of them, each smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Scientists use state-of-the-art microscopes to study cells from microorganisms, animals or humans in their quest for insights about health and disease. Many of these scientists receive support from the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s medical research agency.
The online gallery includes high-resolution versions of all 46 images in the collection, plus longer captions than in the airport exhibit.
“HIV, the AIDS virus (yellow), infecting a human cell.” Seth Pincus, Elizabeth Fischer and Austin Athman, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
“Three-dimensional map of a rotavirus,” National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif.
“Flower-forming cells in a small plant related to cabbage.” Arun Sampathkumar and Elliot Meyerowitz, California Institute of Technology
“Q fever bacteria (yellow) in an infected cell.” Robert Heinzen, Elizabeth Fischer and Anita Mora, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health