5/8 My Favorite Electron Micrograph

My Favorite Electron Micrograph:

Source Link: https://www.olympus-lifescience.com/en/bioscapes/authors/igor-siwanowicz/

    When looking for microscope images, I knew I wanted to pick one that imaged an aquatic organism. I scuba dive and love micro-scale photography of marine organisms. Obviously, this is even more micro scale than normal micro-scale photography, which made it even more fascinating. This is a confocal microscopy image of a single atom fresh water algae magnified 400x. Confocal imaging uses lasers through a regular compound microscope, any excess light is then rejected by the confocal aperture, creating a higher resolution and allowing for a much greater magnification. This image shows a desmidiale which is a type of green algae that is known for its symmetry. It consists of two 2 semi-cells, connected by a narrow bridge. Each one of these semi-cells houses a large chloroplasts for photosynthesizing. Most are either round or star shaped, and quite small. However, some are large enough to be seen by the naked eye. The cell divides through binary fission, each semi-cell becoming its own cell. This was super fascinating as this single cell appears to be so complicated yet simple in structure allowing it to replicate itself efficiently. This goes to show the intricacies of nano-scale organisms!