The 2009 BioScapes Photography Contest

Every year, the Olympus BioScapes competition highlights the best microscopic photography of the year. These fascinating glimpses of the unseen universe are judged annually on the science they depict, their aesthetics, and their technical merit. Here, the winning 10 photographs, and 10 of the 66 photos that earned honorable mentions. For the entire gallery, and to learn more about the competition, visit <a href="http://www.olympusbioscapes.com">www.olympusbioscapes.com</a>. (Olympus BioScapes)

<b>Water flea Daphnia atkinsoni. </b> This specimen has a "crown of thorns," a defensive trait induced in offspring only when the parents sense chemical cues released by one of their main predators, the tadpole shrimp <i>Triops cancriformis</i>. The water flea's exoskeleton (exterior structure, green) and subcellular details within the organism (nuclei, tiny blue dots) are both visible. (Dr. Jan Michels)

The nucleus of a plant cell showing a ladderlike protein structure that forms between pairing chromosomes during meiosis (the cell division required for reproduction). This may be the first-ever high-resolution 3D image of this complex ever captured with light microscopy.  (Dr. Chung-Ju Rachel Wang)

This classic microscopic subject illustrates sex in lower organisms and shows the power of sexual attraction even in simple algae. One cell becomes quite amoeboid as it squeezes through the narrow fertilization tube that the partner cells have just built between them. This still frame is taken from a movie shot in time-lapse over 2 hours. (Dr. Jeremy Pickett-Heaps)

Fresh water algae called <i>Haematococcus pluvialis,</i> mangified 100 fold. (Charles Krebs)

Unicellular alga Penium, treated with the microtubule poison oryzalin (Dr. David Domozych)

Tentacle of a portuguese man o' war, <i>Physalia physalis</i>, magnified thirty-fold. Notorious for its painful, powerful sting, the man o' war has a gas-filled floating chamber that supports the tentacles, which bear sting cells. Shown are the pink batteries of stinging cells and a delicate muscular band responsible for the high contractibility of the tentacles. (Dr. Alvaro Migotto)

Sensory axons (long, slender nerve fibers) covering the tail of a 3-day-old larval zebrafish. In the "Brainbow" photography technique used to capture this picture, cells randomly choose combinations of red, yellow and cyan fluorescent proteins, so that they each glow a particular color. This provides a way to distinguish neighboring cells of the nervous system and follow<br> their pathways. (Dr. Albert Pan)

Flower of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana </i>(more commonly called the thale cress), a popular model organism in plant biology and genetics, magified 20x.  (Dr. Heiti Paves)

Atlantic salmon embryos, captured at Bryant Pond in Maine.  (Haruka Fujimaki)

The stem cells used to generate these motor neurons were made from the skin cells of an 83-year-old patient suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). Studying these neurons will help scientists better understand and combat the disease. ( Gist Croft and Mackenzie Weygandt)

Fossil of red sponge coral, captured at 20x. (Norm Barker)

A cross section of a petunia flower's style. Fluorescent surface wax (green) and fluorescent chlorophyll in the chloroplasts (red) of these cells is an artifact of the photography technique. (Dr. Howard Berg)

The surface of a brine shrimp, as seen under through confocal microscopy. (Stephanie Boyle)

<i>Bosmia sp.,</i> a form of zooplankton—tiny creatures that drift through the world's oceans.  ( Karl Bruun)

A still image from a video of an amoeba trying to engulf a very resistant yeast cell.  (Dr. Margaret Clarke)

Spelling out the diagnosis: Glandular structures from fibroadenoma and nodular prostatic hyperplasia cases. (Dr. Ma. Ivy Clemente)

Fossil of red sponge coral, or <i>Actinoptychus heliopelta, </i>captured at 20x. (Stijn Coccoris)

A citrus flower <i>primordium</i>—the bud of the flower. (Dr. M. Reza Dadpour)

Blood and lymphatic vasculature inside of a mouse colon. (Dr. Andrea Doni)

Flower of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana </i>(thale cress), a popular model organism in plant biology and genetics.  (Mr. Fernán Federici)