15 Beautiful Microscopic Images from Inside the Human Body
Wed, Mar 11, 2009
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Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, 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.
1. Red blood cells
Image: Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images
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.
2. Split end of human hair
Image: Liz Hirst, Wellcome Images
Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair.
3. Purkinje neurons
Image: Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images
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.
4. Hair cell in the ear
Image: Wellcome Photo Library, Wellcome Images
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.
5. Blood vessels emerging from the optic nerve
Image: Freya Mowat, Wellcome Images
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.
6. Tongue with taste bud
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
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.
7. Tooth plaque
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
Brush your teeth often because this is what the surface of a tooth with a form of “corn-on-the-cob” plaque looks like.
8. Blood clot
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
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.
9. Alveoli in the lung
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
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.
10. Lung cancer cells
Image: Anne Weston, Wellcome Images
This image of warped lung cancer cells is in stark contrast to the healthy lung in the previous picture.
11. Villi of small intestine
Image: Professor Alan Boyde, Wellcome Images
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.
12. Human egg with coronal cells
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
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.
13. Sperm on the surface of a human egg
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
Here’s a close-up of a number of sperm trying to fertilise an egg.
14. Human embryo and sperm
Image: Dr. David Becker, Wellcome Images
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.
15. Coloured image of a 6 day old human embryo implanting
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
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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March 13th, 2009 at 5:44 pm[...] You really should check out the 15 amazing 3D-body shots from Environmental Graffiti. Almost all of the 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. Super cool. Head over here. [...]
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March 12th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Wow amazing shoot.. Its capture the real meaning of life thanks for this post very informative and educational
March 12th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
AWESOME!!!!!
March 12th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
You forgot to add that the pictures were colored as SEM gives only black and white picture.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Very interesting photos. I particularly liked “8. Blood clot”. The human body is indeed amazing.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
WOW! That’s so fascinating. Thank you for sharing these great images.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
According to North Dakota, that last picture is considered child pornography
March 12th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
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.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I feel sorry for the sperm.
Anthony Pitarelli
March 12th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
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.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
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.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
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!
March 12th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Gosh, so beautiful! Have you seen these types of images on ties and scarves? I love this company: http://www.iawareables.com
March 12th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Great post
March 12th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Beautiful images, it’s wonderful seeing the patterns around us in nature that exist inside us in miniature.
March 12th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Wow those shots are astounding. Thanks for the amazing post.
Dave
March 12th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
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 http://www.confiezateya.com, yo escribí un secretico mio , animen sen visiten http://www.confiezateya.com, verán de lo que les comento
chao…. los quiero muchísimo:)
March 13th, 2009 at 12:30 am
woooow
March 13th, 2009 at 12:41 am
Wow, aren’t we some complex beings?
March 13th, 2009 at 2:31 am
eeeewwwwwww!
March 13th, 2009 at 4:30 am
these are the coolest pics ever!
March 13th, 2009 at 5:15 am
These are remarkable pictures. I plan on sharing them with a lot of folks. Just… amazing.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Very fascinating and attractive photos. But the one I like most is number 15. Very touching, where life begins.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
impressive :)
March 13th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
WOW! That’s so fascinating. Thank you for sharing these great images..
March 13th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
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
March 13th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
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!
March 13th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
WoW, great !!!!
March 13th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
The purkinje neurons rocked!
March 14th, 2009 at 12:15 am
photos are very amazing, deep photos from human physiology, great thanks..
March 14th, 2009 at 12:35 am
CONCHETUMADRE!
March 14th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Wow, it’s amazing what things look like up-close!
Thanks – a great post!
March 14th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Allaho Akbar!
This shows the majesty of Allah and what he has created. Truly beautiful! Only Allah can create such beauty.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:27 am
This is sweet!
March 14th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Wow. Very cool images. Microscope technology is mind-blowing and it’s good to be reminded of it once in a while.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:21 am
INCREDIBLE! Plain and Simple!
March 14th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Pretty amazing!!
March 15th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
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…
March 15th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
These images are totally amazing! Makes me think twice about what I eat and drink.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:21 am
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.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Some of us still are.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
They were amazing & interesting.
I liked 12.Human egg with coronal cells.
You guys are doing a wonderful job.
March 17th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
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.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Awesome creation of God.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:18 am
It really makes you reflect on the signs of God
-very inspiring, Thank You
March 20th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for all the comments!
@luke: thanks for catching the typo with the 2 #15s – it’s been fixed.
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Great Images!! The picture 11 “Villi of small intestine” amazing!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
exelent, thanks lot for giving knowledge to us about our hidden drama,
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:47 am
AMAZING!
April 6th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I’m just so overwhelmed!
April 16th, 2009 at 12:14 am
I’m so fucking grossed out right now.
April 17th, 2009 at 5:54 am
they dont have it but the worst one would have to be a kidney stone.
a lot of SEM images show organic things are very irregular or ragged and not looking mechanical.
kidney stones being crytals looks like a ball of razor blades.
a knife edge under SEM does not look sharp and compared to a cell it’s a large blunt surface. kidney stones look like they actually could cut cells.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Thats amazing!!
http://www.superperolas.com
April 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
This is one of the most beautiful picture taken till date .
Excellent ,Amazing ….. Photograph without Boundary
April 29th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Wow. There is no doubt in my mind that the last frontier is INWARD! Truly amazing. The detail, the beauty at microscopic levels.
Thanks for sharing.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
human body is amazing thanx 4 sharing
May 1st, 2009 at 11:26 am
priceless..did not know there was so much more to mudane bodily functions.. beautiful!
May 4th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I would like to know how fast does a sperm cell travel to reach an egg, and how far does it travel to reach the egg. what is the comparison to an explosion, when the sperm impact the egg. Does the sperm hold electric impulse energy, and can be considered as an electrical current? Please someone answer these questions.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Wounderfull infomation
May 18th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
The blood clot really does look like a clot if that makes sense.
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
“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!”
at six days an embryo is a bunch of cells…identical, unspecialized cells…in this picture it’s probably a structure called a morula…once again, a bunch of cells. it hasn’t even started forming the embryonic layers that form specialized cells yet…hands and feet become apparant at 10weeks !?
but the pictures were really cool anyway
May 29th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Great Images from Human Science! Thank you for sharing these great images.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Wow amazing shoot.. Its capture the real meaning of life thanks for this post very informative and educational
Great post
July 5th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Amazing Photos!
July 20th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
The picures are beautiful. If you have olfactory mucosa, bladder lining, motor end plate, sensory end organs, lungs, nasal mucosa inner ear, love to see them
T R.Shantha, MD, PhD
Nobel Prize Nominee 2007
July 26th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Amazing, especially the slit end. So much detail!
July 27th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
que magnifico!
August 8th, 2009 at 1:56 am
I am glad I click this link…
now I know what WE ALL
look like on the inside
of the “HUMAN BODY”!
August 8th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
really i am so much pleased to se all this images where so beautiful that
that i have ever seen.
August 21st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
just superb, pictures. i never see beforre today, such pictures.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Omg this is the most scariest thing ive ever seen in my life!!!!! No joke!…..
Is this actually real???
August 27th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
nice i liked all photos !!!!!!
September 6th, 2009 at 10:43 am
These pictures were so amazing.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:33 am
what the fucking human bodey?
September 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
these are great information and high tech. pictures.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
she dnt even no how to spell body girl yew need to do something bout dat
October 5th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
The pictures need the explanations that follow them. Thanks for both.
Jim
October 6th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
amazing exposure of our self in the eyes of medical jugglers
October 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
good pics. but how can i download it for my study.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
this shit is nasty
October 27th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Glory be to Allah!
Anyone who sees this, the great wonders of our body that The Creator has made for us, and given us…and that we as mortal being have absolutely no control over these incredible functions that work in perfect unison… and yet still fail to realize and acknowledge The Creator, is there a greater fool than that person??
October 31st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
weird and cool