TESTING Cancer has affected humanity since time immemorial, with the earliest record appearing in ancient Egyptian manuscripts. The inherent nature of the disease is inconsistent, challenging researchers across the globe: It can manifest in different types of cells, either remaining stationary in one part of the body and serving as an easy target or spreading across the body with heartbreaking consequences. And yet, there is hope. Every year new and innovative therapeutics are created by scientists who are as stubborn as the disease, bringing us closer to the possibility that cancer will become a distant memory. 

The artist created this piece by superimposing colorectal cancer cells on images of chrysanthemum flowers. Many of us tend to think of cancer cells as solid tumors that either lodge themselves in one place or are passively carried to another part of the body. However, cancer cells, just like flowers, are dynamic. They respond to cellular forces all around them, constantly reorganizing their processes based on their environmental cues. Much like an early spring bud which has to listen to the world around it before it decides to effloresce. 

TESTING Throughout our lives we are told to not judge a book by its cover; internal beauty is more important than external appearances. And yet, that doesn’t stop us from wishing we could peek into things – whether it is a fruit to decide if it is ripe enough, or the minds of people to understand what they really think, or even our own bodies to figure out if the pain is a passing moment or if it is a serious symptom of an underlying disease.

Although such hypotheticals are not yet possible on a macro scale, it is possible to catch a quick glimpse on a micro scale. An example includes microscopy techniques that can decipher cellular structures, like a nucleus, without breaking open a cell. Using such methods, researchers can visualize embryo development without harming the life inside. The artist juxtaposed images of mice embryos with fruit because of the striking commonality: both have life hidden inside, waiting to burst forth.

TESTING Throughout our lives we are told to not judge a book by its cover; internal beauty is more important than external appearances. And yet, that doesn’t stop us from wishing we could peek into things – whether it is a fruit to decide if it is ripe enough, or the minds of people to understand what they really think, or even our own bodies to figure out if the pain is a passing moment or if it is a serious symptom of an underlying disease.

Although such hypotheticals are not yet possible on a macro scale, it is possible to catch a quick glimpse on a micro scale. An example includes microscopy techniques that can decipher cellular structures, like a nucleus, without breaking open a cell. Using such methods, researchers can visualize embryo development without harming the life inside. The artist juxtaposed images of mice embryos with fruit because of the striking commonality: both have life hidden inside, waiting to burst forth.

Nature’s primary goal is to survive and reproduce. For many plants, they package their future into seeds that are dispersed into the world with the aim of populating new environments. The oldest seed-bearing plants arose between 416 million to 358 million years ago. Over time, plants have found new ways to package their seeds and have learned to saddle them onto different vehicles, with the singular hope that the next generation will prosper wherever they land.

How do plants equip their seeds so that they can succeed in the big bad world? Although the finer details of different seeds vary, they consist of three primary parts. First, they have the embryo, a young multicellular organism which emerges from the seed. Second, seeds contain a source of stored food called the endosperm. And finally, they have protective outer coverings to shield the embryo until it is ready to come out.

The shorthead redhorse, Moxostoma macrolepidotum, is commonly found in large creeks and rivers across Illinois. It is a member of the “sucker” family, Catostomidae, whose name originates from the ability to use their mouths to suck up
small food items usually found on creek and river bottoms. The original image sequence from left to right shows 3D renderings of the external surface (left), internal skeleton (middle), and color-coded external surfaces (right) measured by an X-ray CT scan.

The Illinois Natural History Survey contains specimens of fish that have been collected over the past 150 years. Since there is a wealth of history tied to these specimens, it is important to keep such collections alive because they allow us to ask important scientific questions. After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, an actual specimen is worth exponentially more.

Sound by Anders Pollack

Through photosynthesis, plants sustain our ecosystems, using carbon dioxide and captured sunlight to create life-giving sugar and oxygen. Plants exchange air and moisture through pores in their leaves and other tissues called stomata, which open and close. As climate change alters the temperature, humidity, and composition of the air plants breathe, they must adapt their responses in order to survive.

Researchers are studying the stomata of corn and other crop plants to understand and facilitate this adaptation to climate change. The root image for this piece was created with a custom-modified software program that identifies and traces stomata in images of leaves. The shifting colors used here evoke the way the computer scans and quantifies leaf structure; the quilting tessellations remind us that seeing and counting has a familiar beauty.

Embryonic development, or embryogenesis, represents the crucial early stages of prenatal development where the embryo forms and begins to take shape. Among other factors, the environment can play a role in the pregnancy and in turn, development of the embryo. Researchers are investigating the impact of the pregnant person’s exposure to environmental toxicants during the early stages of pregnancy. 

Shown here is a two day-old embryo (top image) and a five day-old blastocyst (bottom image) from mice taken at 20X magnification. The images are adorned with layers of CT scans of uteruses and knee joints and small dots representing the number of cells in each image. Through its soft tones and robust images, this piece reminds us of the delicate yet powerful nature of reproduction. 

Many processes within the body are changed by the presence of cancer. These images show the response of microglia, immune defense cells in the brain, to cancer cells. When microglia encounter glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most aggressive brain cancers, they shift from a relaxed, elongated shape to a rounded, ready-for-combat conformation.

These images echo the work of Anna Atkins, a British botanist and photographer who used a contact printing technique called cyanotyping to capture the form of plants and algae. Emily Chen’s work similarly seeks to explore biological function, in this case the immune response to brain cancer, by capturing and comparing biological forms.

Rock is often used to symbolize permanence, yet the structure of rock is constantly evolving, often on a spatial scale too small and a time scale too long for us to easily appreciate. By viewing cross-sections of sedimentary stone through a microscope, we can read the history of its incremental formation like the rings of a tree.

Here, this technique has been applied to a kidney stone that spontaneously formed in the body of a patient. Scientists were able to rewind the process through which three stones fused together to make one. By merging the geological knowledge of rock formation with the medical science of kidney stone prevention, they have developed a powerful new approach for addressing a common and painful disease.

Much like some of the brighter stars in our night sky, a closer look might reveal that the points of light scattered across this image are actually pairs of bright spots, not singular ones. They are created by attaching two dye molecules to specially designed DNA fragments that fold origami-like into a standardized structure. Being able to image the two bright spots distinctly on this “ruler” tells microscopists the resolution of their instrument.

Scales? Feathers? Iridescent fabric? These delicate patterns are skeletons of corals, composed of the mineral aragonite, which typically has needle- and fan-shaped crystals. Through an innovation in microscopy that looks at light in two different ways as it illuminates the same sample, these structures are revealed in colorful images like this one. The study of corals provides scientists with a sensitive indicator of past and present climate around the planet.

The awareness that what we eat influences our well-being predates modern science, yet we are still discovering new connections between diet and health. This image shows mouse lung tissue; the normal cells near the bottom, sampled from a healthy mouse, contrast with the cancerous cells at the top, sampled from a mouse whose diet included oil previously heated to deep-frying temperatures. Research efforts like this one help to clarify the hidden health risks and benefits of different foods.

Eastern Filbert Blight is a fungal disease that attacks European hazelnut trees. The disease is challenging to manage in part because it takes months for symptoms to appear after infection. The red spine-like structures in this image are the growing filaments of the fungus invading a plant stem, shown in green with a tangle of red fibers from the plant’s vascular tissue. Documenting the fungal growth pattern will help plant biologists diagnose and control the disease.

Plant genes respond to many cues in the environment—light, nitrogen availability, and other factors—to allow the plant to adjust to changing conditions. How do those genes work together to keep the plant healthy? Diagrams like this one are used to analyze and describe the relationships of plant genes to one another and to the environment. They can lead to the identification of new ways to develop crops that will continue to thrive as the climate changes.

Viruses are artful dodgers, expressing proteins that evade the body’s immune response. Researchers can study the proteins that allow viruses to sneak in by using special labeling techniques to observe viral gene activity in infected cells. The colors seen in this image come from labeling of cells infected with vaccinia virus, and will help clarify how viral genes allow poxviruses to cause infections.

David Waterman
Marcelo H. Garcia Laboratory
Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory

Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This sparkling cloud is actually an aggregate of oil and fine sediment that occurs when water, fine sediment, and an oil film is mixed. The bright white circles are droplets of oil that fluoresce under ultraviolet light. The darker material surrounding the droplets is a complex group of fine sediment grains that reflect visible light. Examining how this type of aggregate forms can help researchers understand how spilled oil lingers in the environment and affects wildlife and human health.

Max Rich
Hyunjoon Kong Laboratory

Funded by an NSF Science and Technology Center

An intermediate stage in muscle development is the formation of myotubes, long thin structures that will grow into muscle fibers. The patterns seen in this image are created by myotubes grown in a gel matrix. Observing how myotubes develop in laboratory conditions aids in the understanding of how skeletal muscle tissue develops. This knowledge can help us to better understand how the environment around cells guides development, and how to treat diseases that affect the muscles.

Image provided by Becky Slattery, Don Ort Lab

Research funded by the United States Department of Agriculture

This image shows the upper and lower surfaces of a dark and a light green tobacco leaf. Fluorescent light given off by chlorophyll in cross-sections of the leaves was captured and recolored to produce the shapes seen here. Research has shown that in dark green leaves, the upper surface absorbs more light than it can use while the leaf tissue below is deprived of light. This research is testing the hypothesis that reducing chlorophyll content will result in a more efficient use of light, meaning more productive crop plants.

Image provided by Mark Band, Functional Genomics Unit, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center

Research funded by the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center and the Office of Vice Chancellor of Research at the University of Illinois

In order to measure gene expression, researchers once needed relatively large samples of tissue. Devices such as this cell capture chip made by Fluidigm now make it possible to measure gene expression in single cells. Microchannels on the chip, like the ones seen here, orchestrate the precise fluid flows needed to bring together the cells and the chemicals used to process them.

Image provided by Vincent Chan, Rashid Bashir Lab

Research funded by the National Science Foundation

This centimeter-long bio-bot was made with a 3-D printer out of flexible polymer and living heart cells. The cells beat together, creating a contracting and releasing motion that inches the bot forward. Researchers would like to make smarter bio-bots that could assist in surgery, or find and neutralize toxins or parasites.

Image provided by Yunzi Luo, Huimin Zhao Lab

Research funded by National Academies Keck Futures Initiative on Synthetic Biology

This image represents the energy released by the protons in a molecule extracted from bacteria, which is detected by sweeping the molecule with radio frequency in the presence of a magnetic field. The spectrum gives the researchers information about the connections between the atoms that make up the molecule, revealing its chemical structure.

Image provided by Luke Mander, Surangi Punyasena Lab

Research funded by the National Science Foundation

In this image, pollen grains from Croton hirtus (rushfoil), Mabea occidentalis (Mabea) and Agropyron repens (quackgrass) provide a glimpse of the extraordinary morphological variety of pollen. Their shapes and surface textures were revealed using cutting-edge fluorescence microscopy at the IGB. The shape of pollen grains from different plants can be so distinct that pollen identification based on structure has been used in forensic investigations, archaeological studies, and to confirm the purity of monofloral honeys.

Image provided by Luke Mander, Surangi Punyasena Lab

Research funded by the National Science Foundation

In this image, pollen grains from Croton hirtus (rushfoil), Mabea occidentalis (Mabea) and Agropyron repens (quackgrass) provide a glimpse of the extraordinary morphological variety of pollen. Their shapes and surface textures were revealed using cutting-edge fluorescence microscopy at the IGB. The shape of pollen grains from different plants can be so distinct that pollen identification based on structure has been used in forensic investigations, archaeological studies, and to confirm the purity of monofloral honeys.

Image provided by Mayandi Sivaguru, Core Facilities
Research funded by the Institute for Genomic Biology

Arabidopsis, a small plant related to mustard, was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, and is a model organism for biological studies of flowering plants. The anther is the part of a flower that produces pollen. This image shows a close-up of the anther’s three-dimensional structure.

Image provided by Carly Hill, Bruce Fouke Lab
Research funded by the Office of Naval Research

This image illustrates algae living symbiotically with the coral. Studying the relationship between coral and microbes helps researchers understand how environmental factors such as climate change affect coral health. To create this image, 11,000 two-dimensional pictures were combined to make a three-dimensional computer model.