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 and showcased the elegant and beautiful scientific images researchers are able to create using this simple protein,” says Erika Shugart, the CEO of the American Society for Cell Biology, in the announcement. “They were so impressive, both visually and scientifically, that I know it was a challenge to choose the very best ones.”
Emily Makowski is an intern at The Scientist. Email her at emakowski@the-scientist.com.
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