Image of the Day: Worm Rocket

See the winners of the American Society for Cell Biology’s fluorescence imaging competition.

Written byEmily Makowski
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

ABOVE: The assembly of a worm rocket!
SUMANA SUNDARAMURTHY

On November 21, the American Society for Cell Biology announced the winners of its annual green fluorescent protein photography and video competition. Coming in first place was The assembly of a worm rocket! by Sumana Sundaramurthy, a grad student studying the cytoskeleton of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in David Pruyne’s lab at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. The image shows the structure of C. elegans muscles under a microscope; thin ribbons of the microfilament actin, necessary for movement, are labeled with GFP.

Cytoskeletal Storm (below) by Jesse Gatlin, a molecular biologist at the University of Wyoming, won first place in the video category. It depicts a microtubule array isolated in a cell-free environment. Normally, the array helps with cell division. In the video, the growing ends of the microtubules produce GFP.

“All the submissions to our contest were amazing ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
February 2026

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

When experiments refuse to cooperate, you try again and again. For Rafael Najmanovich, the setbacks ultimately pushed him in a new direction.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies