Is it a frozen alien world?
Afraid not -- it's a sample of bacterial colonies from the mouth of a patient with gum disease. Periodontal Bacteria was a winner in the Wellcome Image Awards 2011, a celebration of photography in the fields of science and medicine. Derren Ready, lecturer at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London, began his prize-winning snap with a sample of plaque. "We grow the bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans on a pale-coloured agar plate, then shine a light beneath it to emphasise the colony shape," says Ready. "I imaged the colonies with a low-powered microscope and took a picture with a digital camera." Something to think about next time you smile for a picture.
wellcomeimageawards.org
Below: The bacteria photo in glorious full-screen resolution.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
