Catherine de Lange, reporter
It looks like a work of art created with CGI, but it's actually a 12-day-old mouse embryo, modelled with a new technique that could lead to a better understanding of common diseases (see video above). The intricate animation reveals the delicate organs of a developing mouse embryo, and is one of the winners at this year's prestigious Wellcome Image Awards.
Ian Smyth, a developmental biologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, created the animation using a novel imaging technique called Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) which can be used to create accurate 3D images of tiny specimens without slicing them first (see video above).
The embryo was stained for a specific protein, highlighting the developing epithelial cells which line many of the organs as they form. Creating accurate images of normal embryonic development means they can be compared with abnormal cases to try to understand what has gone wrong. The method can also be used to better understand the actions of genes. "Using OPT, we can study the expression of a particular gene or protein and identify defects in the formation of specific organs," says Smyth.
The winners of the Wellcome Image awards will be on display at the Wellcome Collection in London until July 2011.
See more in our gallery: "Colour me beautiful: Wellcome Image Awards winners".