Nikon’s “Small World” photo contest reveals the beauty of the microscopic world

Each year, rigorous science and dazzling art meet in Nikon’s “Small World” photomicrography competition.

Started in 1975, the competition celebrates the beauty of images taken with a light microscope. Scientists and hobbyists enter, and the winner receives a $3,000 prize. This year, the competition celebrates its 50th anniversary and has received around 2,100 photographs from 80 countries.

If sometimes disturbing, the images are always impressive, and this year’s contest is no exception.

1st place

This year’s first prize was awarded to a groundbreaking image of mouse brain tumor cells taken by Augusta University of Georgia Medical School faculty member Bruno Cisterna. The photo reveals how disruptions in the cell’s cytoskeleton, the structural framework and “highways” known as microtubules, can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as ALS or Alzheimer’s disease Lou Gehrig).

Cisterna’s research was published in May in the Journal of Cell Biology.