The exposed living human brain, a mesmerising image of dividing cancer cells and a single phytoplankton are among the winners of this year’s Wellcome Image Awards.
Experts from UCL (University College London) and Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute were recognised for their extraordinary images of life in close-up.
The overall winner was Robert Ludlow who is a medical photographer in the Medical Illustration Unit of the UCL Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH Trust.
His winning photograph shows the surface of a human brain belonging to an epileptic patient. The procedure was measuring the electrical activity at the surface of the patient’s brain. The photograph captures the bright red arteries supplying the brain with nutrients as well as purple veins which remove deoxygenated blood. Robert said: "This fascinating and intricate organ, often referred to as 'the most powerful computer on the planet', is defined in its most delicate, vulnerable and exposed state, which reminds us of just how fragile the brain actually is."
A time-lapse image of a cancer cell dividing won recognition for Kuan-Chung Su and Mark Petronczki. Kuan-Chung and Mark, who work at Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute, are looking at the mechanisms that control how cells divide.
Kuan-Chung Su said: "Over 200 years ago, it was proposed that cells arose from pre-existing cells. We now know that cell division is a fundamental characteristic of life on Earth. All living organisms begin with a single cell that divides repeatedly with astonishing precision to create organisms so complex and wonderful. The spiral arrangement best captures the journey of a cell as it proceeds to divide and create new cells in the process. One could imagine the spiral to spawn an infinite number of interlocked spirals, each representing a single cell but as a whole capturing the beauty of life."
Two of the recognised images were created by Anne Weston, who’s an electron microscopist for Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute.
They include a diatom frustule – a type of algae, and an image of connective tissue removed from a human knee during surgery.
Although Anne usually concentrates on imaging various types of cancer cell, she captures other images to help show people the scale of magnification involved in her work.
Anne has now won eight Wellcome Image Awards for her work.
The winning images are on display in Wellcome Collection until 31 December 2012.
You can see all the winning images here.
