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Pin-ItOne of two honorable mentions for Frank Fox in the 2020 Small World in Motion competition, this movie shows a stentor (ciliate) feeding (and perhaps playing) with green algae using darkfield microscope technique. This is not frequently observed and can be especially difficult since great care and skill is needed to assure the coverslip on the microscope slide does not interfere with the natural movements of the subject.
2020 Small World in Motion Competition
Honorable Mention
A stentor (ciliate) juggling green algae
Frank Fox
- Affiliation
- Trier University of Applied Sciences
Konz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
- Technique
- Darkfield
- Magnification
- 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Honorable Mention
Cancer cell metastasis in a developing zebrafish embryo
Dr. Stephan Daetwyler Dr. Gloria Slattum, Dr. Jody Rosenblatt, Dr. Jan Huisken
- Affiliation
- UT Southwestern
Dallas, Texas, USA
- Technique
- Light Sheet
- Magnification
- 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr. Daetwyler, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center and his collaborator, Dr. Gloria Slattum focus their work on epithelial cell biology. Their main interest in creation of this movie was a visualization and further understanding of dynamic processes in the development of disease, particularly cancer. In short, this movie is part of life-saving research to learn how cancer metastasis takes place. It illustrates how mutated genes in the zebrafish epidermis cause cancerous cells to be extruded and invade surrounding tissue. Imaging events such as this require cutting edge technology that calls on the latest developments in imaging, microscopy, sample care/preparation and data processing. These movies are often derived from data sets that are measured in terabytes (1 terabyte=1,000 Gigabytes) Cancer metastasis is the primary cause of cancer associated death. The knowledge gained from such research will translate directly to more effective ways of controlling this deadly aspect of the disease.
Honorable Mention
Hydra
Frank Fox
- Affiliation
- Trier University of Applied Sciences
Konz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
- Technique
- Darkfield
- Magnification
- 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Frank Fox’s second honorable mention in the 2020 Small World in Motion competition shows a Hydra, an invertebrate freshwater animal that is known for being able to expand its normal size. This video shows just such behavior as the creature stretches out many times its original length. This was taken using darkfield technique and clearly demonstrates Mr. Fox’s ability to keep moving subjects in focus, a challenge for even the most accomplished microscopist.
Top 20
Honorable Mentions
Judges
Dr. Dylan Burnette
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Vanderbilt University
Burnette has been using high resolution microscopy to study cells for over 20 years. His laboratory at Vanderbilt University focuses on how cells grow and divide. He is interested in how these processes contribute to the function of heart muscle. He trained as a graduate student with Dr. Paul Forscher at Yale University and as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Burnette has placed in the Nikon Small World competition eleven times.
Samantha Clark
Photo Editor National Geographic
Clark works on stories about science and the environment. She previously worked on NPR’s photo team and at Pier 24 Photography. Before working in visuals, she was a reporter and radio producer based in the Bay Area of San Francisco.
Sean Greene
Graphics and Data Journalist The Los Angeles Times
Greene covers science, the environment and medicine. He started working for The Los Angeles Times in 2014 and specializes in combining the powers of visual storytelling and the internet to tell meaningful and memorable stories. He’s reported on native oysters, bugs and frog tongues, and helped develop projects such as an interactive map of the Milky Way, a tracker of coronavirus cases in California and a data analysis of the dialogue in the Star Wars movies.
Dr. Christophe Leterrier
Group Leader Institute of Neurophysiopathology at CNRS and Aix-Marseille University
An engineer by training, Dr. Leterrier turned to cell biology and neurobiology for his Ph.D. He studies how neurons are organized at the cellular level and how they differentiate, then build and maintain their incredibly complex arborization. Since 2017, he has led the NeuroCyto lab in Marseille where he applies advanced microscopy techniques to directly observe molecular assemblies at the nanoscale inside neurons.
Ariel Waldman
Chair of the External Council NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program
Waldman led an expedition to Antarctica to film microscopic life under the ice. She is the co-author of a National Academy of Sciences report on the future of human spaceflight and the author of the book What’s It Like in Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who’ve Been There. Waldman is the global director of Science Hack Day, a National Geographic Explorer, a member of the San Francisco Microscopical Society, and received an honoree from the Obama White House as a Champion of Change in citizen science.
