4 June 2022 | New Scientist | 31In the details
THESE dazzling images,
each captured with an optical
microscope, hold a lens up to
the natural world, revealing the
beauty and richness of an up-close
perspective. They make up some
of the winning and shortlisted
entries for the Olympus Image
of the Year Global Life Science
Light Microscopy Award, an
international photography
competition showcasing the
art of scientific imaging.
The top row shows (left to right):
an arbuscular mycorrhizal soil
fungus cell containing hundreds
of nuclei, unlike typical cells that
carry just one nucleus, which won
Vasilis Kokkoris the regional prize
for Europe, the Middle East and
Africa; the axons in the developing
nervous system of a zebrafish
embryo, which earned Layra
Cintron-Rivera an honourable
mention; and a Siberian milkwort
plant captured by Mingyue Jia,
another of the competition’s
honourable mentions.
The bottom row shows (left
to right): the ovaries of a fruit
fly, an honourable mention
taken by Yujun Chen; Ivan Radin’s
winning image for the Americas
region of Physcomitrium patens
(commonly known as spreading
earth moss), a model organism
for studying plants; and the
competition’s global winner,
captured by Jan Martinek, of
the flower of Arabidopsis thaliana
(or thale cress), another plant
model organism that Martinek
made chemically transparent to
reveal the stained pollen tube
within, shown in yellow. ❚Gege LiJAN
MA
RT
INE
K
MIN
GY
UE
JIA