Biomedical Image Awards 2006
Beauty and horrors of the molecular world revealed
13 July 2006
As far as award ceremonies go, it could have been a disaster: one winner had tooth-decaying bacteria, another had mumps. A mosquito was buzzing around having drunk its fill and even the bread was mouldy.
Fortunately, these were not calamities but stunning images, among those honoured at the Wellcome Trust Biomedical Image Awards 2006 and currently being displayed at the Wellcome Library, London and online. Other winning images included cancerous cells, the blind spot of an eye and the stinging hairs on a nettle leaf.
Presenting the Awards, scientist and broadcaster Kathy Sykes described the Award winners as "a stunning collection of images that portray a range of surprises, intrigues, beauties and even horrors of biomedical science".
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a dreadful mouthful in more than one way. A colony of these oral bacteria, captured by Derren Ready from the Eastman Dental Institute, London, may look like a strangely luminescent flower, but it can lead to the destruction of gum and bone structures that support the teeth. Worse still, disease caused by oral bacteria can also be a factor in heart disease.
Hugh Sturrock from Wimbledon and currently studying in Otago, meanwhile, submitted an action shot of a mosquito mid-flight, laden with the blood of its victim. This particular species of mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is prevalent in India and is responsible for transmitting malaria in that region. A number of Wellcome Trust-funded initiatives are aimed at finding out more about the malaria parasite and ways to tackle the issue.
The winning images were selected from those submitted to the Medical Photographic Library over the past 12 months. This collection of over 160 000 images covers modern medicine and biomedical science, the history of medicine and the history of human culture from the earliest periods of civilisation to the present day, reflecting the remarkable diversity of the interests of Sir Henry Wellcome.
"The winners of the Biomedical Image Awards open up our eyes to the microscopic and molecular worlds that we all take for granted," says Catherine Draycott, Head of the Wellcome Trust Medical Photographic Library. "Using both cutting-edge and old-fashioned techniques, the winning artists have created images that are not only fantastically detailed, but often strangely beautiful and alive.
"Of course, while the images themselves may be beautiful to look at, they serve as an invaluable tool for researchers, allowing them to understand and visualise more clearly the mechanisms underlying human and animal biology."
Other images recognised in the awards ceremony include human colon cancer cells, taken by Dave McCarthy and Annie Cavanagh from the University of London School of Pharmacy, and squamous cell carcinoma, taken by Anne Weston from Cancer Research UK. The latter shows a cell from the second most common form of skin cancer, frozen and split open to reveal its nucleus, an aggressive, beast-like cell.
If all this is beginning to give you a headache, you could take an aspirin – and also take a look at Dave McCarthy and Annie Cavanagh's beautiful image of aspirin crystals, captured on a scanning electron micrograph.
From today (Thursday 13 July) the Award-winning images are on display at the Wellcome Library, 210 Euston Rd, London, along with audio clips of the scientists behind the images discussing their work. Entrance to the exhibition is free.
Contacts
Craig Brierley
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
E
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
T +44 (0)20 7611 7329
Notes for editors
1. The Wellcome Trust is the most diverse biomedical research charity in the world, spending about £450 million every year both in the UK and internationally to support and promote research that will improve the health of humans and animals. The Trust was established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, and is funded from a private endowment, which is managed with long-term stability and growth in mind.