Enjoy images from members of the Wyss community
Science and art are more similar than they are different. Both require refined skills, ingenuity, and the desire to leave the world a little different than how you found it. In recent years, the artistic community has recognized this, with Wyss Institute work being featured in exhibits at Cooper Hewitt, MoMA, and the Barbican Centre. To further recognize this connection and to celebrate World Photography Day, we held a community photo contest and members of our community answered the call in droves to “show their science.”
The winning photos in the categories of Microscopy, Research/Technology, and Community are displayed in the slideshow below, will be shared on our social channels, and hung in our physical space. With so many great submissions to choose from, some runners-up are also featured in the slideshow. Celebrate the beauty of science with us!
1/21 Luba Perry, Microscopy, WINNER: Engraftment and vascularization of 3D engineered liver 14 days post-transplantation into mice. Mice were injected with mCD31 to stain the host vessel network, and TRITC-dextran to observe perfusion. Green - implanted hepatocytes, cyan - TRITC-dextran, magenta - mouse CD31. 
2/21 Saurabh Mhatre, Research/Technology, WINNER: Hydrogels contain more than 85% water in their expanded state and their refractive index is the same as that of water. Hence, when they are partially submerged in water they project an optical duality. 
3/21 Nicole Carey, Community Photo, WINNER: Rupert Soar and Paul Bardunias removing the top of a termite mound in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, to investigate acoustic resonances. 
4/21 James Weaver, Microscopy, WINNER: Polychromatic scanning electron micrograph of a tessellated plant seed. The hardened surface bumps protect the windblown seeds from abrasion, while the thin sutures provide an avenue for controlled fracture during germination. 
5/21 Luke MacQueen, submitted by Michael Rosnach, Research/Technology, WINNER: A tissue-engineered scale model of a heart ventricle designed in Kevin Kit Parker's Disease Biophysics Group. 
6/21 Douglas Blackiston, submitted by Mike Levin, Microscopy, WINNER: This tadpole has had its eye transplanted from a host whose cells were labeled with fluorescent red protein. This was a project on bioelectric control of innervation of transplants. 
7/21 Nina Donghia, Community Photo, WINNER: Photographs of my colleagues and self, taken at the Wyss Institute with my 1972 Polaroid SX-70 camera. 
8/21 Yu Wang, Microscopy, WINNER: Multiplexed imaging of mouse retina sections. 
9/21 Anna Rock, Research/Technology, WINNER: According to pop artist Andy Warhol, the significance or emotional valence of an image is often lost with repetition; this is in stark contrast to science, where repetition increases the significance of the work. Here the extracted spleens from mice used in the infection vaccine experiments are arranged in a pop art style to reflect on the juxtaposition of these mentalities. Relevantly, Warhol was shot in the spleen by Big Art reactionary Valerie Solanas. 
10/21 Nicole Carey, Research/Technology, RUNNER-UP: Drawing smoke for an airflow test in a termite collective construction experiment. 
11/21 Ninning Liu, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: Super-resolution image of microtubules created with DNA-PAINT, which coincidentally has the shape of a human face in profile. 
12/21 Hiroshi Sasaki, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: A human cell nucleus at the nanoscale, visualized with DNA-PAINT. 
13/21 Saurabh Mhatre, Research/Technology, RUNNER-UP: Each set of fins in this Kiriform can be created from a single sheet, thus allowing for inexpensive fabrication. There are only minimal hardware or weld connections between the sheets, and the principles underlying the mechanism scale from the millimeter to the meter scale and beyond. 
14/21 Douglas Blackiston submitted by Mike Levin, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: This tadpole’s eye was transplanted from a host whose cells were labeled with fluorescent red protein and implanted into its flank (not its head). These eyes can actually allow the animal to see out of them! 
15/21 James Weaver and Lara Tomholt, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: Scanning electron micrograph of a brittle star skeletal element. 
16/21 Sung Jin Park submitted by Michael Rosnach, Research/Technology, RUNNER-UP: Phototactic guidance of a bio-inspired robotic stingray powered by rat heart cells. Engineered in Kevin Kit Parker's Disease Biophysics Group. 
17/21 Yu Wang, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: Highly multiplexed imaging using immunoSABER in mouse retina sections (10 targets visualized). 
18/21 Nirosha Murugan submitted by Mike Levin, Research/Technology, RUNNER-UP: A slime mold known as Physarum polycephalum, which our team is using for a project on basal cognition (ability of slime molds to build up a map of their environment). We also use Physarum as a source of possible stasis-inducing compounds. 
19/21 James Weaver, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: Polychromatic scanning electron micrograph of a porous polymer network. 
20/21 Sasan Jalili & James Weaver, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: Bacteria of the human gut microbiome (yellow) populating the dense mucus layer produced by the intestinal epithelial channel of the anaerobic Intestine Chip that maintains gut-like low-oxygen concentrations. 
21/21 Sinem Saka, Microscopy, RUNNER-UP: 7-color Immuno-SABER imaging of human tonsil section.