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Rhino Horn
Cross-section of an old specimen of rhinoceros horn. The horn is made up of compacted keratin fibres, the same protein that makes hair and wool. Rhinoceros horn has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fever and cleanse the body of toxins. To discourage the use of this endangered species, buffalo horn has now started to be used as an alternative.

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Pork Meat
Close-up of a piece of pork meat, showing groups of muscle fibres (red) surrounded by a sheath of connective tissue known as the perimysium. These connective tissue membranes are continuous with the tendons that connect the muscle to the bones. The bones in turn have a connective tissue covering – the periosteum – that is also continuous with the tendons. This continuity gives the strong connection between the muscles and the bones. A small blood vessel can also be seen here.

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Branching Brain Cells
These specialised cells named Purkinje cells (red) are found in a part of the brain called the cerebellum. They send out vast numbers of branches that make connections with other cells in the cerebellum. This part of the brain coordinates your voluntary movements and keeps you oriented in space. It also plays a part in learning physical skills – such as riding a bike or playing the piano.

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Aspirin Crystals
Aspirin was originally extracted from willow bark but is actually produced in all plants as a defence mechanism in response to damage or attack. Much higher levels are therefore found in less than perfect fruit and vegetables. Aspirin is used to treat pain, reduce fever, and prevent heart disease and cancer. Some people think it should be reclassified as a vitamin.

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Stinging Nettle
The surface of a stinging nettle leaf. The large stinging hairs are hollow tubes with walls of silica making them into tiny glass needles. The bulb at the base of each hair contains the stinging liquid, which includes formic acid, histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). The tips of the glassy hairs are very easily broken when brushed, leaving a sharp point, which can pierce the skin to deliver the sting.

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Bread Mold
The fruiting body of bread mold. As the mould grows, it propagates itself by forming spores that are released into the environment and grow into new mold colonies.
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Cell Growth
Insulin controls cell growth in all animals, from fruit flies to humans. Defects in the insulin pathway can lead to human diseases such as diabetes and cancer. At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, fruit flies are used as a model to study how insulin pathways regulate cell growth. In this image, normal cells of the fruit fly are stained in orange. Over-active insulin pathways are the abnormally large and green stained areas.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Bruce Edgar.

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Vertebrate Brain
These panels show images of hindbrain in a developing zebrafish embryo. At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, scientists study how the brain develops in some vertebrates. In both humans and zebrafish, the hindbrain starts as a uniform group of cells, which then divide into distinct segments. Different sets of genes, identified by red and blue bands, shape the identity of each segment.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Cecelia Moen.

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Cell Communication
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, scientists are studying how cancer cells grow. This photo shows normal cell growth in a culture dish. The green color highlights the gap junctional protein found between neighboring cells. The red color identifies a complex which organizes and transports cellular proteins to their proper locations and the blue color indicates cellular DNA.
Photo courtesy of Joell Solan and Dr. Paul Lampe.

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