Fire and Ice

Year: 
2019
Ranking: 
Honorable Mention
Artist: 
Delany Rodriguez (Post-Doc)
Department: 
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Description

Ascidians are marine animals closely related to vertebrates like us. B. schlosseri is a colonial ascidian that has an extracorporeal vasculature, meaning that their blood vessels are outside of their bodies. These blood vessels are used to study new vessels formation, regeneration, cancer, and aging. I have been studying this invertebrate for approximately ten years, and have learned a lot about the complexity and intricacy of their vascular systems. 

This image shows a blood vessel of the extracorporeal vasculature of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri. The blood vessel has been processed with fluorescent dyes to illuminate the actin protein fibers and the cell nuclei. The icy blue hue of the actin fibers starkly contrasts with the fiery red of the cell nuclei, coining the name of the piece Fire and Ice. I obtained this image through a confocal microscope, which is an instrument that is capable of showing crisp details of the vascular system at a cellular level.

CSEPSchuller LabCNSIUCSBMOXI