Get closer to science with Wellcome Image Awards 2012
A vibrant false-coloured magnification of a caffeine crystal, a hypnotising image of dividing cancer cells and a hair-raising close-up of a hopping fly are just some of the winners in the Wellcome Image Awards 2012.
Featuring electron micrographs that take us deep into worlds on a nanoscale and clinical photographs revealing the precision of cutting-edge surgical techniques, the Awards celebrate the best images acquired by the Wellcome Images picture library over the last 18 months.
Sixteen winning images were selected by a judging panel, based not only on their visual appeal but also their technical excellence and ability to convey the fascination of science. For the first time this year, a single overall winner will be announced at the prizegiving ceremony at Wellcome Collection, London on 20 June.
This year's awards will be presented by the BBC's Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh, who was a member of the judging panel. He said: "This was another year of diverse, fascinating and beautiful images. In what other field can you celebrate the hidden beauty of a diatom frustule or caffeine crystals?"
The winning images will be on display at Wellcome Collection from 21 June, as well as on the Wellcome Image Awards website, where you can find more information on the remarkable scientific stories behind the stunning images.
Wellcome Images is one of the world's richest and most unique collections, with themes ranging from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and over 40 000 high-quality images from the clinical and biomedical sciences. Whether it's medicine or magic, the sacred or the profane, science or satire - you'll find more than you expect.
Now in their 15th year, the Wellcome Image Awards were established to reward contributors to the collection for their outstanding work.
Catherine Draycott, Head of Wellcome Images and a member of the judging panel, said: "The Wellcome Image Awards are unique in that the winners are chosen for their scientific and technical merit as much as for their aesthetic appeal. They offer people a chance to get closer to science and research and see it in a different way, as a source of beauty as well as providing important information about ourselves and the world around us."
Wellcome Image Awards 2012 winners
- Lavender leaf - Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy, School of Pharmacy, University of London
- Xenopus laevis oocytes - Vincent Pasque, University of Cambridge
- Cell division - Kuan-Chung Su, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK
- Arabidopsis thaliana seedling - Fernan Federici and Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge
- Caffeine crystals - Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy, School of Pharmacy, University of London
- Chicken embryo vascular system - Vincent Pasque, University of Cambridge
- Cancer cells in motion - Salil Desai, Sangeeta Bhatia, Mehmet Toner and Daniel Irimia, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Intracranial recording for epilepsy - Robert Ludlow, UCL Institute of Neurology, London
- Moth fly (Psychodidae) - Kevin Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen
- Diatom frustule - Anne Weston, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK
- Repair of ventricular sepal defect - Henry De'Ath, Royal London Hospital
- Bacteria biofilm - Fernan Federici, Tim Rudge, PJ Steiner and Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge
- Loperamide crystals - Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy, School of Pharmacy, University of London
- Microneedle vaccine - Peter DeMuth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Micrasterias denticulata - Spike Walker Connective tissue - Anne Weston, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK
Judging panel
- Adam Rutherford - writer and 'Nature' podcast editor and presenter of the award-winning BBC 4 series 'Cell' and forthcoming series 'Genome'
- Dr Alice M Roberts - anatomist, biological anthropologist, author and TV presenter
- Fergus Walsh - medical correspondent,
- BBC James Cutmore - Picture Editor, BBC 'Focus' magazine
- Eric Hilaire - Science and Environment Picture Editor, the 'Guardian'
- Robin Lovell-Badge - Head of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics, National Institute for Medical Research
- Alex Fiorentino - Public Outreach Coordinator, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About Wellcome Images
Wellcome Images is one of the Wellcome Library's major visual collections. It provides unlimited access to a vast catalogue of medical images, manuscripts and illustrations exploring the meaning of medicine, its history and current practice.
All content has been made available under a Creative Commons Licence, which allows users to copy, distribute and display an image, provided the source is fully attributed and it is used for non-commercial purposes.
Images are also available for all media and commercial uses; contact Wellcome Images for more information: images@wellcome.org.
Images from an oil painting of Florence Nightingale and a picture depicting Charles Darwin as an ape to a photograph of Alexander Fleming in his laboratory are part of this unique collection. The images can help teachers and researchers to illustrate themes from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and biomedical science, and to bring complex biomedical concepts to life.
All of our images are available on demand in digital form. Search online or use the expertise of our professional scientific and historical researchers.
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.