News Item

Rat Cerebellum Image Wins Light Microscopy Award

November 2004—
NCMIR microscopist Thomas Deerinck's image of a rat cerebellum won fifth place in the Olympus Bioscapes International Digital Imaging Competition. The image, a photomicrograph of a section of rat cerebellum, was achieved using Quantum Dot technology and multiphoton microscopy.

Deerinck's work has placed in other contests, including the Nikon Small World Competition in 2002, in which a similar picture of a rat cerebellum won first prize. Last year, Deerinck's image of a rat hippocampus placed fourth in the Nikon competition.

The contest was created as a tribute to "extraordinary microscope images of life science subjects," according to the Olympus website. Images captured through light microscopes, using any magnification and any brand of equipment, were judged according to three criteria: science, aesthetics, and technical merit.