LRI images receive Wellcome Trust Image Award

Anne Weston and Kuan-Chung Su, each won this year's prestigious Wellcome Trust Image Award.

Anne Weston, Senior Scientific Officer in Electron Microscopy and Kuan-Chung Su, a 4th year graduate student in Mark Petronczki’s lab (Cell Division and Aneuploidy) have each won this year's prestigious Wellcome Trust Image Awards.

This award is a commendable achievement by Anne and Kuan-Chung, they were among the chosen few selected by a panel of judges respected in their field. The winning images were publicly announced at an event on 20th June 2012 at the Wellcome Trust.

‘Cell Division’ by Kuan- Chung Su

As part of Dr. Petronczki’s lab, Kuan- Chung and the rest of the team are studying the mechanisms that control how cells divide in two; the molecular ‘motors’ that drive cytokinesis, ensuring that each new cell receives the correct amount of DNA . If this process goes wrong, cells may get the wrong amount of DNA, which can lead to cancer. Kuan-Chung hopes to convey to the public a bit of his fascination and passion for the wonders of life with this image.

The image shows firstly the splitting of duplicated sets of chromosomes (in the center) and subsequently the partitioning of the chromosomes in separate cells through the ‘pinching in’ of the membrane during cytokinesis. Images were acquired on a spinning disc microscope at a magnification of 150x. Time intervals between images are 1 minute.

Cell division is one of the fundamental requirements for life on our planet. It leads to the birth of new daughter cells during the growth and development of multicellular organisms. Cell division is one of the major targets of therapeutic intervention for the treatment of cancer, which is a condition where cell growth and division has spiraled out of control.

‘Diatom frustule’ and ‘Connective Tissue’ by Anne Weston  

Two of Anne’s images were chosen as winners this year and has now won a total eight of these awards to date. Both of Anne’s images were inspired by students on work experience at the LRI, she often uses images like these to give a more interesting insight into science and illustrate unique patterns.

Diatom frustule

The false-coloured scanning electron micrograph shows a diatom frustule. Diatoms are unicellular organisms and a major group of algae. Diatoms are encased within a hard cell wall made from silica.

Frustules have a variety of patterns, pores, spines and ridges, which are used to determine genera and species. Diatoms are one of the most common types of phytoplankton, and their communities are often used to measure environmental conditions such as water quality. This diatom is approximately 80 microns in diameter.

Connective Tissue

This false-coloured scanning electron micrograph shows connective tissue removed from Anne’s knee following arthroscopic surgery. Individual fibres of collagen can be distinguished and have been highlighted by the creator using a variety of colours. The horizontal field width of the image is 16 microns.