COVER FEATURE
The science of beauty Each year the Wellcome Image Awards showcase the most beautiful and striking images in science. Hundreds of entries are submitted from all areas of science, representing medical history to present-day healthcare and biosciences. Judged by an independent panel, winning images are displayed in a special exhibition housed at the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road, London. 2012 was a particularly successful year for UCL scientists, who produced four of the sixteen winning photographs, with Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy (from the UCL School of Pharmacy) producing three of the winning entries. The winning duo have been entering the competition for 9 years, working together to produce the images alongside their roles at the UCL School of Pharmacy. David is the School’s Experimental Officer for the Electron Microscopy Unit, having been a microscopist for 40 years. The Unit’s services have become essential to many of the School’s programmes through capturing images for research. David produces up to five images a week, using an electron microscope that is powerful enough to magnify samples by 3 million times. The samples are so minute they cannot be lit by lights, but are instead 6
illuminated by electrons implanted in the microscope. The surface of the sample is then scanned, allowing us to see in astonishing detail the depth and makeup of individual particles. All images taken under David’s microscope are monochromatic (black and white), so it’s up to Annie, who David refers to as ‘the artist’, to add the colour. Working with Photoshop to bring the images to life, David describes Annie’s role as being that of a painter, deciding what colour and tone is suitable and applying colours that complement one another. Of their winning entries this year, David and Annie produced two magnificent images of crystals. The first, which is featured on the front cover of this edition, is a false-colour magnification of something most of us see every day; a caffeine crystal. The second (opposite) is a slightly more unusual and less glamorous drug called Loperamide, which is used to slow down movement in the bowel. With the vibrant colours making each image stand out, the crystals appear truly ethereal, clearly showing the potential beauty in science. The work of David and Annie and the Wellcome Image Awards show that there is unexpected and mysterious beauty to be found in everyday science.
All winning images from the exhibition can be viewed online at www.wellcomeimage awards.org