Scientific Research Reveals Microscopic Beauty
Under the microscope, nuclei (labeled in white) inside a retina look like frosting on a cupcake.
Basic science can lead to advancements in medicine and science while creating inadvertently artful outcomes. This has been the case inside the Eggers Lab in the Department of Physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, where a team is working to improve diabetes diagnosis and care, especially as it relates to diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes that can lead to vision problems. The lab studies the effects of diabetes on retinas, which produce beautiful images when viewed under a high-powered microscope.
Learn more about these images shared by Andrea Wellington, assistant research scientist, and share images you've captured under the microscope. Images will be used to create a new photo gallery on Health Sciences Connect. Email images to HealthSciencesConnect@arizona.edu. Read the announcement about the call for submissions.
An image of a retina captured under a microscope by Andrea Wellington, assistant research scientist in the Eggers Lab in the Department of Physiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson, shows rod bipolar cells labeled in green and inhibitory amacrine cells (GABAergic) labeled in red.
This image, captured under a confocal microscope, shows an immunostained dopaminergic amacrine cell in the inner retina.
Does this look like an underwater plant or the vasculature of the retina? This image shows the blood vessels in a retina in green, the cells that make up the blood-retina barrier in red, and dopamine-producing amacrine cells in cyan.
Scientists are studying images taken under a microscope, such as this image from diabetic and control retinas, to understand the cellular changes that occur in the early stages of diabetes, before vision loss occurs. This image shows rod bipolar cells in magenta, some cone bipolar cells in cyan, and dopaminergic amacrine cells in green.
This image of the cone photoreceptors and outer nuclear layer found in the retina was chosen as one of the winners in the 2019 Vector Labs image contest. It was captured by Andrea Wellington, assistant research scientist in the Eggers Lab in the Department of Physiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson.
This intergalactic-looking image titled “The Eye of Sauron” captures the back of the retina.
Image of the inner retina with some cone bipolar cells genetically labeled in cyan, cones and their processes also labeled in cyan, actin labeled in red and cell nuclei labeled in white.
This image was taken with the optic nerve head of a retina in the center. It shows the vasculature of the retina stained green with IsolectinB and the cells that make up the blood-retina barrier stained red with anti-NG2-Cy3.
Image taken under a microscope shows the inner retina with cone bipolar cells genetically labeled in cyan, photoreceptors and blood vessels labeled in green and cell nuclei labeled in white. The shape of a little smiling fish appears toward the bottom.