It was taken from Colin Salter’s new book, Science is Beautiful (Batsford, 2015), his book shows us some amazing images of the human body under a microscope:
1. Human inner ear
This is a balancing stone from our inner ear. The stones are attached to sensory hairs that are sensitive to gravity and acceleration. When we tilt our head the hairs send nerve impulses to our brain so that we can stay balanced.
2. Bacteriophage
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria. The orange spider-looking thing is a bacteriophage that has just injected its viral DNA into an E. coli bacterium.
3. Serotonin
Ninety percent of the serotonin in our body is found in our gut. Seratonin is often called the “happy hormone”, but actually it is a lot more complicated than that. It also plays a part in memory, learning, mood, appetite and also sleep.
4. Insulin Crystals
Insulin is produced in the pancreas, and its function is to regulate blood sugar levels.
5. Melatonin
When it gets dark, your eyes send messages to a gland that produces melatonin – a hormone linked to sleep.
6. Fat cells that have been emptied
The thick layer of fat under our skin cushions us and stores energy. In this picture, the fat deposits of the cells have been removed.
7. Cells of our lung
Nuclei, which contain the cell’s genetic information, appear blue. Mitochondria, which generate energy for the cell, are yellow.
8. Human Skin
The outer layer of the skin, the epidermis (top half of this image) consists of dead cells that are constantly sloughed off and replaced from below. The yellow things are a protein called keratin which makes the skin waterproof and strong, so that our organs inside don’t get damaged. The black things are hair follicles.
9. Adrenaline crystals
