The winners of the 48th annual competition showcase a spectacular blend of science and artistry under the microscope
MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of the 48th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. This year's first place prize was awarded to Grigorii Timin, supervised by Dr. Michel Milinkovitch at the University of Geneva, for his remarkable image of an embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko. Masterfully blending imaging technology and artistic creativity, Timin utilized high-resolution microscopy and image-stitching to capture this species of Phelsuma grandis day gecko. Embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis)
A visually stunning and painstaking technique, Timin used image-stitching to merge hundreds of images together to create the final image of his gecko. Preparing the sample was an added challenge. Timin performed whole-mount fluorescent staining and tissue clearing to capture the entire embryonic hand with a confocal microscope.
"This embryonic hand is about 3 mm (0.12 in) in length, which is a huge sample for high-resolution microscopy," said Timin. "The scan consists of 300 tiles, each containing about 250 optical sections, resulting in more than two days of acquisition and approximately 200 GB of data."
The final result gives a glimpse into the hidden beauty and complexity of the gecko, highlighting the nerves in a cyan color and the bones, tendons, ligaments, skin and blood cells in a range of warmer colors. "This particular image is beautiful and informative, as an overview and also when you magnify it in a certain region, shedding light on how the structures are organized on a cellular level," said Timin.
He went on to say, "The Nikon Small World Competition is a great opportunity to share how impressive nature is on a microscopic level, not only within a scientific community but also with the general public." "Each year, Nikon Small World receives an array of microscopic images that exhibit exemplary scientific technique and artistry. This year was no exception," said Eric Flem, Communications and CRM Manager, Nikon Instruments. "At the intersection of art and science, this year's competition highlights stunning imagery from scientists, artists, and photomicrographers of all experience levels and backgrounds from across the globe." Second place was awarded to Dr. Caleb Dawson for his image of breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli. Taking a week to process, the myoepithelial cells were stained with multiple rounds of fluorescent dyes and captured with a confocal microscope.
Third place was captured by Satu Paavonsalo and Dr. Sinem Karaman for their image of blood vessel networks in the intestine of an adult mouse.
In addition to the top three winners, Nikon Small World recognized 89 photos out of thousands of entries from scientists and artists across the globe. The 2022 judging panel included:
Dr. Nikolay Nikolov, Senior Video Journalist at The New York Times
Annaliese Nurnberg, Photo Editor at The Washington Post
For additional information, please visit www.nikonsmallworld.com, or follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter @NikonSmallWorld and Instagram @NikonInstruments. Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch
Department of Genetics and Evolution
Embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli
Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman
Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine Blood vessel networks in the intestine of an adult mouse
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Mill Valley, California, USA
Long-bodied cellar/daddy long-legs spider (Pholcus phalangioides)
3X (Objective Lens Magnification) San Anselmo, California, USA
Image Stacking, Reflected Light
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Unburned particles of carbon released when the hydrocarbon chain of candle wax breaks down
Brightfield, Image Stacking
Dr. Jianqun Gao & Prof. Glenda Halliday
Central Clinical School / Professor Glenda Halliday's Lab
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Human neurons derived from neural stem cells (NSCs)
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Growing tip of a red algae
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Institute of Microelectronics and Optoelectronics
Liquid crystal mixture (smectic Felix 015)
Image Stacking, Polarized Light
A fly under the chin of a tiger beetle
Jiang Yin, Jiangsu, China
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Autofluorescence of a single coral polyp (approx. 1 mm)
Fluorescence, Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Differentiated cultured mouse myoblasts with lysosomes (cyan/green), nuclei (yellow), F-actin (magenta)
Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine
Cross sections of normal human colon epithelial crypts
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Department of Biology & Department of Plants and Crops Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Longitudinal section through a white asparagus shoot tip
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr. Daniel Wehner & Julia Kolb
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Department of Biological Optomechanics
Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany
Tail fin of a zebrafish larva with peripheral nerves (green) and extracellular matrix (violet)
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Department of Biosciences / Immunology
Network of macrophages (white blood cells) of an adult zebrafish intestine
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility
Bacterial biofilm on a human tongue cell
Hui Lin & Dr. Kim McBride
Center for Cardiovascular Research
Human cardiomyocytes (heart cells) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM)
Department of Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Intestinal villi (brush border in magenta)
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
Pacific Grove, California, USA
Two-month old juvenile sea star (Patiria miniata)
Confocal, Fluorescence, Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Midge larva collected from a fresh water pond
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Young stem of garden bamboo (Fargesia sp.)
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
The actomyosin network at the apical pole of human corneal endothelial cells (revealed by immunofluorescence)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Migrating human fibroblast stained for the golgi (orange), the actin cytoskeleton (magenta), and the nucleus (cyan)
A cell with extra centrosomes beginning to divide
San Anselmo, California, USA
Slime mold (Didymium clavus)
Image Stacking, Reflected Light
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Rostock, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Germany
Diatom (Actinoptychus sp.)
Differential Interference Contrast (DIC), Image Stacking
100X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Radula (rasping tongue) of a marine snail (Turbinidae family)
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Department of Neuroscience
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Larva of an anemone, found in marine plankton
Jiang Yin, Jiangsu, China
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
About Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography or video. Participants may upload digital images and videos directly at www.nikonsmallworld.com. For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA, or phone (631) 547-8569. Entry forms for Nikon's 2023 Small World and Small World in Motion Competitions are available at https://enter.nikonsmallworld.com/ Nikon Instruments Inc. is the US microscopy arm of Nikon Healthcare, a world leader in the development and manufacture of optical and digital imaging technology for biomedical applications. For more information, visit https://www.microscope.healthcare.nikon.com/ or contact us at 1-800-52-NIKON.