Where the wild things are: GE’s cell analyzer contest

For most of us, seeing great works of art involves a trip to the museum — or thumbing through a giant coffee table book. But for scientists charging toward the next big breakthrough, every day is a kaleidoscope of stunning colors thanks to Mother Nature — and GE’s IN Cell Analyzer. In a nutshell, the complex technology is an automated microscope attached to a type of camera that — along with very powerful software — takes images of fluorescently stained cells and analyzes them. The goal is to better understand diseases and evaluate new drug compounds for treating them. But as we described in our story earlier this year, the images produced are so vivid and artful that they could easily be hanging in a gallery.

What nerve! Researchers working on depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and thought processes are studying these human nerve cells.

Each year, GE sponsors a contest in which scientists using the technology submit their favorites — such as the wild image above that evokes an otherworldly bonfire or the seemingly Impressionistic blowing grass blades seen at the bottom of this page.

Supported by life sciences journal BioTechniques, this year’s IN Cell Image Competition 2010 had more than 70 images from all over the world submitted from research areas including toxicology, cancer, alzheimer’s disease, immunology, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and neurology. A scientific panel short-listed 30 images for you to vote on through January 6 at www.gelifesciences.com/incellcompetition.

The three winners — one from Europe, Asia and North America — will each win a “trip for two” to New York City to see their image displayed on the first high-definition screen in Times Square.

Going viral: Researchers working in the field of immunology study images such as this, part of which shows microphages in red — which are white blood cells involved in the body’s immune system.

* See images from last year’s competition and the winners in Times Square in the GE Reports story, “Take a magical mystery tour with GE’s cell analyzer.”