An Arresting Optic Nerve Tops the 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition
A starburst like shape of small filaments in various colors

Hassanain Qambari and Jayden Dickson, rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red), and retinal vasculature (green). All images courtesy of Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition, shared with permission

One in five people with diabetes also suffers from retinopathy, a disease causing vision loss and blindness. Problems occur when high blood sugar causes cells to swell and leak, damaging the retina. Because symptoms aren’t always perceptible at early stages, though, many people aren’t diagnosed until the condition has already progressed.

Researchers like Hassanain Qambari and Jayden Dickson have been working toward visualizing the initial signs of retinopathy to aid in early detection, which they recently achieved in an electrifying image that won the 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. A starburst-like web of red and yellow fibers sprawl across the frame, which magnifies the intricacies of a rodent’s optic nerve and offers insight into its function. “The visual system is a complex and highly specialized organ, with even relatively minor perturbations to the retinal circulation able to cause devastating vision loss,” Qambari said. “I entered the competition as a way to showcase the complexity of retinal microcirculation.”

Other submissions to the 49th-annual contest include the venomous fangs of a tarantula, gelatinous slime molds, and spiky sunflower pollen stuck to an acupuncture needle. The 2023 competition garnered nearly 1,900 submissions from 72 countries, and you can see all of the winners on Nikon. It’s also worth taking a peek at the video segment of this year’s contest, which includes striking footage of neurons forming in an embryo.

 

a yellow creature with black spines, tiny black eyes, and two orange nose holes

Sébastien Malo, crab spider (Thomisus onustus)

pink coral with orange tufts on the top

Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai, coral (Acropora granulosa) fluorescing under blue light

two black fangs emerge from thin pink fibers

John-Oliver Dum, venomous fangs of a small tarantula

yellow globs on a metal needle

John-Oliver Dum, sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle

a pink mass with a heart shape at the center

Malgorzata Lisowska, breast cancer cells

an orange speckled mass with red forms emerging from the bottom left

Raghuram Annadana, developing stamen and stigma inside a Hibiscus flower bud

bulbous and gelatinous globs top spindly stems

Timothy Boomer, slime mold (Comatricha nigra) showing capillitial fibers through its translucent peridium

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article An Arresting Optic Nerve Tops the 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition appeared first on Colossal.

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