Photo: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
Photo: Liz Hirst, Wellcome Images
Photo: Image: Freya Mowat, Wellcome Images
Photo: Anne Weston, Wellcome Images
Photo: Dr. David Becker, Wellcome Images 
Photo: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images 
Photo: Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images 
Photo: Liz Hirst, Wellcome Images Get up close and personal with your innards with these 15 amazing 3D-body shots. Almost all of the following images were captured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a type of electron microscope that uses a beam of high-energy electrons to scan surfaces of images. The electron beam of the SEM interacts with atoms near or at the surface of the sample to be viewed, resulting in a very high-resolution, 3D-image. Magnification levels range from x 25 (about the same as a hand lens) to about x 250,000. Incredible details of 1 to 5 nm in size can be detected.
Max Knoll was the first person to create an SEM image of silicone steel in 1935; over the next 30 years, a number of scientists worked to further develop the instrument, and in 1965 the first SEM was delivered to DuPont by the Cambridge Instrument Company as the "Stereoscan."
Here you'll experience the power of SEM in a journey of self-discovery that starts in your head, travels down through the chest and ends in the bowels of the abdomen. Along the way, you'll see what's normal, what happens when cells are twisted by cancer and what it looks like when an egg meets sperm for the first time. You'll never see yourself the same way again.
They look like little cinnamon candies here, but they're actually the most common type of blood cell in the human body - red blood cells (RBCs). These biconcave-shaped cells have the tall task of carrying oxygen to our entire body; in women there are about 4 to 5 million RBCs per microliter (cubic millimeter) of blood and about 5 to 6 million in men. People who live at higher altitudes have even more RBCs because of the low oxygen levels in their environment.
Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair.
Of the 100 billion neurons in your brain, Purkinje neurons are some of the largest. Among other things, these cells are the masters of motor coordination in the cerebellar cortex. Toxic exposure such as alcohol and lithium, autoimmune diseases, genetic mutations including autism and neurodegenerative diseases can negatively affect human Purkinje cells.
Here's what it looks like to see a close-up of human hair cell stereocilia inside the ear. These detect mechanical movement in response to sound vibrations.
In this image, stained retinal blood vessels are shown to emerge from the black-coloured optic disc. The optic disc is a blind spot because no light receptor cells are present in this area of the retina where the optic nerve and retinal blood vessels leave the back of the eye.
This colour-enhanced image depicts a taste bud on the tongue. The human tongue has about 10,000 taste buds that are involved with detecting salty, sour, bitter, sweet and savoury taste perceptions.
Brush your teeth often because this is what the surface of a tooth with a form of "corn-on-the-cob" plaque looks like.
Remember that picture of the nice, uniform shapes of red blood cells you just looked at? Well, here's what it looks like when those same cells get caught up in the sticky web of a blood clot. The cell in the middle is a white blood cell.
This is what a colour-enhanced image of the inner surface of your lung looks like. The hollow cavities are alveoli; this is where gas exchange occurs with the blood.
This image of warped lung cancer cells is in stark contrast to the healthy lung in the previous picture.
Villi in the small intestine increase the surface area of the gut, which helps in the absorption of food. Look closely and you'll see some food stuck in one of the crevices.
This image is of a purple, colour-enhanced human egg sitting on a pin. The egg is coated with the zona pellicuda, a glycoprotein that protects the egg but also helps to trap and bind sperm. Two coronal cells are attached to the zona pellicuda.
Here's a close-up of a number of sperm trying to fertilise an egg.
It looks like the world at war, but it's actually five days after the fertilisation of an egg, with some remaining sperm cells still sticking around. This fluorescent image was captured using a confocal microscope. The embryo and sperm cell nuclei are stained purple while sperm tails are green. The blue areas are gap junctions, which form connections between the cells.
And the cycle of life begins again: this 6 day old human embryo is beginning to implant into the endometrium, the lining of the uterus.
All images are used under the Creative Commons license of Wellcome Images.
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98 comments
Enplo (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 5pm
You forgot to add that the pictures were colored as SEM gives only black and white picture.
Saulo Silva (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 6pm
Very interesting photos. I particularly liked "8. Blood clot". The human body is indeed amazing.
Brady (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 6pm
WOW! That's so fascinating. Thank you for sharing these great images.
K (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 8pm
According to North Dakota, that last picture is considered child pornography
Rickidon Singh (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 9pm
Its truly marvelous to see such photography unfold before our very own eyes - Patients tend to be more aware and take better care of themselves and others when such visual aids are available.
Anthony Pittarelli (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 9pm
I feel sorry for the sperm.
Anthony Pitarelli
Lisa (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 10pm
This is so amazing. I am a nurse and have never seen these same images so perfect and pinpoint. Thank you so much for showing them. I have so many friends in the computer industry who don't appreciate the health care industry. Just to think that computers cannot even produece this level of natural beauty.
stu (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 10pm
I would just like to point out that all SEM images are greyscale since no light (and hence no color) is involve in the imaging process. Any color is added artificially.
Marcomé (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 10pm
Wow, some of those images are touching! The embryo gets me! Gee it's beautiful and ugly at the same time..looks like and outer space planet!
Robin (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 10pm
Gosh, so beautiful! Have you seen these types of images on ties and scarves? I love this company: http://www.iawareables.com
Leon (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 11pm
Beautiful images, it's wonderful seeing the patterns around us in nature that exist inside us in miniature.
Dave Sag (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 11pm
Wow those shots are astounding. Thanks for the amazing post.
Dave
catalina (not verified) says:
Mar 12th, 2009 at 11pm
holas..........que imágenes tan hermosas, nunca había visto tan cerca mis glóbulos rojos, este blog esta interesante para los niños yyyyyyy, le comento de una pagina que apuesto que les fascinara, yo la visite y no se imaginan lo bueno que es www.confiezateya.com, yo escribí un secretico mio , animen sen visiten www.confiezateya.com, verán de lo que les comento
chao.... los quiero muchísimo:)
Jonny Weird (not verified) says:
Mar 13th, 2009 at 5am
These are remarkable pictures. I plan on sharing them with a lot of folks. Just... amazing.
Clean Technology (not verified) says:
Mar 13th, 2009 at 7am
Very fascinating and attractive photos. But the one I like most is number 15. Very touching, where life begins.
Alizee (not verified) says:
Mar 13th, 2009 at 3pm
WOW! That’s so fascinating. Thank you for sharing these great images..
Blanka (not verified) says:
Mar 13th, 2009 at 5pm
This is amazing!! Thank you for sharing. Looking at the human body from this angle makes you want to look after it better.
Very inspiring, loved it.
Blanka
Karen Welsh (not verified) says:
Mar 13th, 2009 at 8pm
so cool. I especially like the six day old human embryo because it already shows the head and arms developing. Even from the very beginning it is not a blob. It's a life, albeit developing, full of potential and promise!
integumentary (not verified) says:
Mar 14th, 2009 at 12am
photos are very amazing, deep photos from human physiology, great thanks..
LeMelon (not verified) says:
Mar 14th, 2009 at 1am
Wow, it's amazing what things look like up-close!
Thanks - a great post!
bundu (not verified) says:
Mar 14th, 2009 at 1am
Allaho Akbar!
This shows the majesty of Allah and what he has created. Truly beautiful! Only Allah can create such beauty.
Neurolovist (not verified) says:
Mar 14th, 2009 at 4am
Wow. Very cool images. Microscope technology is mind-blowing and it's good to be reminded of it once in a while.
luke (not verified) says:
Mar 15th, 2009 at 2pm
roflgasm, you've got 15 twice? i stopped reading the rest of the article, when i saw that, becasue i was considering it would be awful if you guys can't even count. Oh and it was the end of the page...
Mica (not verified) says:
Mar 15th, 2009 at 4pm
These images are totally amazing! Makes me think twice about what I eat and drink.
Japan (not verified) says:
Mar 16th, 2009 at 11am
Wow! Great stuff. I want more! It's strange to think that all of us were once just a clump of cells clinging for our lives to our mother's uterus.
Chaitz (not verified) says:
Mar 17th, 2009 at 6pm
They were amazing & interesting.
I liked 12.Human egg with coronal cells.
You guys are doing a wonderful job.
Patrick Smith (not verified) says:
Mar 17th, 2009 at 9pm
So beautiful, like life itself. Our bodies our such a wonderful biochemical system. Many thanks for allowing me the chance to contemplate the wonder of us all.
Faizan Mumtaz (not verified) says:
Mar 20th, 2009 at 5am
It really makes you reflect on the signs of God
-very inspiring, Thank You
soniaydong says:
Mar 20th, 2009 at 9pm
Thanks for all the comments!
@luke: thanks for catching the typo with the 2 #15s - it's been fixed.
jdm (not verified) says:
Mar 23rd, 2009 at 6pm
Great Images!! The picture 11 "Villi of small intestine" amazing!!!
hector (not verified) says:
Apr 2nd, 2009 at 9pm
exelent, thanks lot for giving knowledge to us about our hidden drama,
jolinarodriguez (not verified) says:
Wow amazing shoot.. Its capture the real meaning of life thanks for this post very informative and educational