stem cells in their environment
#RecreateScience Response Gallery
24 August 2020
by Jessica Sells, Public Engagement Officer for the CSCRM
In June 2020, the #RecreateScience project was developed as part of the Illuminations collaboration between scientists at the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London, and the Imperial Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine Network and artists from Chisenhale Studios. The team worked together over lockdown to develop a way for people at home to explore their creative and artistic minds, and connect with stem cell research.
Researchers shared their stem cell images to be recreated from home using everyday household objects. We have received some fantastic responses to the initiative. Have a scroll through the gallery below to see the imaginative and creative ways that people have responded to the initiative.
If you would like to submit a response, please see 'RecreateScience' where you can find entry details including previous examples and the latest available research images for download and use. The Illuminations team are planning an online Science-Art exhibition in September where your #RecreateScience images could be featured!
'Organoids' by Ana-Maria Cujba
Original Image
This image by PhD student Ana Maria Cujba is a from a light microscope, and shows organoids grown on top of a thick layer of Matrigel. Matrigel is a nutrient rich gel-like mix that provides the right environment for them to expand and grow. “I grow these structures routinely to obtain large numbers of pancreatic organoids which I then differentiate towards more mature cells that resemble the islet cells found in the human pancreas (that secretes hormones such as insulin). I derive pancreatic organoids from iPSC from both healthy and diabetic individuals, which enables me to better understand how pancreatic islets function in patients with diabetes. In the future, these pancreatic organoids could be used for translational approaches such as drug screening and clinical-based therapies that require large number of cells.”
Response Images
1/7
“I chose this image because these organoids are an interesting way researching diabetes, as they can be used as proxies for the both healthy and diabetic pancreatic islets, allowing scientists to “better understand how pancreatic islets function in patients with diabetes”. And hopefully thereby facilitate the development of treatments.
This is my reproduction of the research image using some pen ink, paper, a strong light source below the subject and my phone’s filters.
By decreasing the saturation to 0, I could achieve the black and white effect. The bright light source below the paper creates the lighter ‘glow’ effect present in the centre of the research image: the trade-off being that it does some very strange things to my phone’s camera. The image was taken in relative darkness, so the ink really stands out to make it look like cells. The grey tone was done merely by wetting the paper with water.”
- Anonymous
2/7
“What I began trying to do to recreate this was create some sort of system that could allow me to blow bubbles into a container and capture those bubbles in movement, but I did not find a good way to do so. I then went to get some diet coke and while I was drinking it I thought about dropping some droplets onto dark grey printed paper so the paper would absorb it slower and the colours would match, but while I did this, I noticed that when the coke was absorbed, the high pressure carbon dioxide bubbles remained on the paper, so I tried this on a reflective surface and this was the outcome”
- Anonymous
3/7
“My inspiration is because organoids can be crafted to replicate much of the complexity of an organ. This can be helpful in many ways.
I used Oil and Water; I know that the water is denser than oil which when mixed gently would create few droplets floating on water which looks similar to the organoids.”
- Anonymous
4/7
- Linda Williams
5/7
- Linda Williams
6/7
- Linda Williams
7/7
- Anonymous
'Pancreatic progenitor organoid' by Ana-Maria Cujba
Original Image
This image by PhD student Ana Maria is from a fluorescence microscope and shows a pancreatic progenitor organoid (a miniaturised and simplified pancreas-like structure in a dish) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. I was able to determine that these cells were developing into a pancreatic organoid by staining them for the presence of specific proteins associated with this process. These human pancreatic progenitor organoids are an unlimited source of cells that can be used to grow more mature and functional insulin-secreting cells. One day, through optimising the efficiency that these cells develop into pancreatic cells, they could be used as a potential cell-based therapy for patients that suffer from diabetes, who lack the ability to produce insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels)”
Response Images
1/2
- Anonymous
2/2
- Anonymous
'Pancreatic progenitor organoid 2' by Ana-Maria Cujba
Original Image
This image by PhD student Ana Maria Cujba is a pancreatic progenitor organoid (a miniaturised and simplified pancreas-like structure in a dish) derived from pancreatic progenitors (precursor cells) obtained from human induced pluripotent stem cells. I was able to determine that these cells were developing into a pancreatic organoid by staining them for the presence of specific proteins associated with this process. These human pancreatic progenitor organoids are an unlimited source of cells that can be used to grow more mature and functional insulin-secreting cells. One day, through optimising the efficiency that these cells develop into pancreatic cells, they could be used as a potential cell-based therapy for patients that suffer from diabetes, who lack the ability to produce insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels).
Response Images
1/2
“From the moment that I saw this image, I was attracted by the flux of colours, reminding me a painting of Pointillism. As in this art-movement where single dots of different colours compose a much bigger painting, which makes sense only when viewed from a certain distance, so in Ana-Maria' s image each colour represents a part of a wider web of information, let alone a bigger organism. When all these pieces of data are put together, they will hopefully provide more knowledge. A reminder that in both
Art and Science, being able to go close and move far from the subject of matter, either physical or incorporeal, is an essential practice in order to reach a better understanding of our world.
The information of the organoid image would tell a lot more to the trained eyes of a researcher of this field. However, I approached this exercise as a play of visual synthesis in search of potential patterns. Although, I did not get there yet, it was an amusing and relaxing work! That was particularly because of the repetition of creating each paper-ball and then colouring them. A process that offered time for reflection on the overall composition before finalising the work.”
- Maritina Keleri
2/2
- Anonymous
'Neurons and neural progenitor cells' by Gaby Clarke
Original Image
This image by PhD student Gaby Clarke shows neurons and neural progenitor cells differentiated from mouse embryonic stem cells, and grown in a dish. The cells have been stained to show immature neural progenitor cells (red), and more mature motor neurons (green) that grow from them. Motor neurons are a specialised neuron that sends signals from the brain to the muscles to enable muscle movement. Growing these types of neurons in a dish will allow me to investigate what happens to motor neurons during motor neuron disease (MND, ALS) and if this terrible disease can be stopped.
Blue = nucleus, green = neurons, red = progenitor cells
Response Images
1/3
- Louisa Todman
2/3
- Louisa Todman
3/3
- Anonymous
'Neural rosette' by Gaby Clarke
Original Image
This image by PhD student Gaby Clarke shows neurons growing out from the middle of a ‘neural rosette’ during differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into cortical neurons in a dish. Neural rosettes are special structures of cells that form during the development of neurons in a dish.
This rosette has been stained to show expression of the neural progenitor marker nestin (green) and cell nuclei (blue). Neural progenitor cells grow out from the centre of the rosette, and later turn into mature cortical neurons. These cortical neurons can be used to study Alzheimer’s disease.
Response Images
1/3
“I chose this image of neurons growing out of the middle of a ‘neural rosette’ as I am interested in brain structure. I have used grasses to represent the neurons, foil to represent the ‘neural rosette, and a black bin bag to use as the background. I then held a blue transparent folder over the model. The light was filtered through the blue folder and was reflected back by the foil which gave the illusion that the foil was blue. It also intrigued me as I wondered what conditions the stem cell needed to evolve in this way.”
- Anonymous
2/3
“I chose it because I liked the shape formed by the neurons and how they branched from the centre and I think the science behind it is very interesting. I chose to use pencils, pens, and beads since they were similar shapes and they were vibrantly coloured like the image.”
- Anonymous
3/3
- Anonymous
'Neuron noodles' by Ieva Berzanskyte
Original Image
This image by PhD student Ieva Berzanskyte shows a network of developing neurons, derived from embryonic stem cells. As they mature, connectivity within a network is essential and resembles real development in the brain. Network activity could enhance their maturation, thus plating them in such a high density we can start unravelling the questions of how local activity modulates neuron behaviour. Cell essential compartments have been pseudocoloured after processing - nucleus labelled in red, and the cytoplasm in green, which emphasises the unique elongated morphology of neurons.
Response Images
1/4
- Anonymous
2/4
- Anonymous
3/4
- Anonymous
4/4
- Anonymous
'Neuron' by Ieva Berzanskyte
Original Image
This image by PhD student Ieva Berzanskyte shows a developing motor neuron filled with a dye while measuring its electrophysiological properties. The neuron is slowly acquiring its typical shape, including the formation of axons and dendritic branches, both of which are important in the conductance of electrical signal. Red pseudocolor was applied after image processing. The ability to mature neurons made from stem cells in a dish brings us closer to modelling their true function in the body – to transmit electrical signals.
Response Images
1/4
“I made the structure of twigs wrapped with thread purely as a response to the image, which I saw as a kind of lightning bolt of energy. It’s not a literal portrait, I didn’t look at the photo apart from an initial inspiration, or work directly from it, and wasn’t aware at the time of making that it is a neuron.
I wanted a slow and laborious work process, like nature creating one cell at a time, generating and migrating. The structure took shape from the process of joining twigs, slowly growing by joining more twigs, bound together by winding thread around them. The structure then imitated the idea of the developing life force, by taking off in unplanned directions and improvising its own growth.”
- Kate Hardy
2/4
“I chose to draw this motor neuron because I find the shape of the motor neuron interesting and I find it fascinating how it is slowly acquiring its shape and is not done yet. It inspires me because it shows that there is still many more things to discover about the human body and neurons.”
- Anonymous
3/4
“I chose the image of a nerve cell because in school we’re also learning about in in much greater detail so this helps me with my academics. The original picture by ieva inspired me because it shows a neuron slowly forming and maturing. I used a red yarn to medel the neirrpn because it’s very flexible and it’s easier to show the neuron’s properties.”
- Anonymous
4/4
- Anonymous
'Mouse’s vermilion region' by Inês Tomás
Original Image
In this image by PhD and Research Assistant Inês Tomás who researches oral cancer, we can see the mouse’s vermilion region. This is the transition area from the interior of mouth (left), to the external part of the lip (right). We want to understand how different the skin is in this border area and how it is affected by inflammation.
Response Image
“I chose this image as I found it fascinating that something as random and obscure as a mouse's lip could look so interesting under a microscope: the shapes are nothing like what would be expected. I used very thin materials such as silk ribbons, leaves, and plastic bag remnants to fit with how minute the image is - a microscopic image of a mouse's lip is certainly quite small.”
- Anonymous
'Blastocyst' by Dr Norah Fogarty
Original Image
This image is by CSCRM Group Leader Dr Norah Fogarty and shows a human embryo 7 days after fertilisation, called a blastocyst. Epiblast cells (red) will give rise to the fetus. Trophectoderm cells (green) will make the placenta.Over 90% of a blastocyst’s cells are trophectoderm, showing the key role this organ plays in development.
Response Images
1/6
Norah recreated her image with her toddler using sliced potatoes which she dipped into paint and used as stamps to represent the different cells present in the image.
- Dr Norah Fogarty
2/6
“I chose this image because I liked how the fluorescent dots gave it an outer-space type feel. It is a human embryo 7 days after fertilisation. The dots remind me of the different parts of the body forming. And the illumination of the dots gives the embryo its own life, making it quite beautiful, representing the beauty of human life. The green cells which will make the placenta remind us of how everything is made from something small. I used a ball, painted black, to replicates the spherical look of the picture and blastocyst. To add the dots, I used vibrant paint and my finger to give an imperfect circle shape to the fluorescent dots.”
- Anonymous
3/6
“I have these stones that absorb light and glow in the dark so I charged them up with a lamp, blew up a balloon and stuck them on with adhesive spray. I could only take this picture at night time because that’s when it was pitch black.”
- Anonymous
4/6
- Anonymous
5/6
- Anonymous
6/6
- Anonymous
'Pancreas heart' by Dr Rocio Sancho & Markus Dieffenbacher
Original Image
This image is by CSCRM Group Leader Dr Rocio Sancho & her good friend and colleague Markus Dieffenbacher. The image shows a beautiful heart shaped duct (labelled in red) containing an insulin producing beta cell (labelled in green) in a mouse pancreas histology slide. Ductal cells in the pancreas form a ductal network by which digestive enzymes are released to the intestine. Beta cells are the cells specialised in producing the glucose regulating hormone insulin. This image was the first evidence that modulation of a protein called Fbw7 could change ductal cells to become insulin producing beta cells. The Sancho Lab at CSCRM is now exploring how this finding could be used to find new therapies to treat diabetes.
Response Gallery
1/4
“I really enjoyed making this! I chose this particular photo as I really liked the colours and the heart-shaped structure. For my construction, I used my brother’s old nerf bullets to create the blue outline, a cabbage leaf to create the green spot and the red lentils to create the red line on the inside. I used the nerf bullets because they enabled me to show the blue centre, but also the thin red outline just above the blue. I thought that this worked perfectly. The green leaf also had a small hole that matched the hole on the photo. I really enjoyed making this and constructing all of the elements together."
- Anonymous
2/4
- Anonymous
3/4
- Anonymous
4/4
- Anonymous
'Early mouse embryo' by Sergi Junyent
Original Image
This image by PhD student Sergi Junyent shows an early mouse embryo. Sergi labelled it’s cytoskeleton (tubulin, in red) and nuclei (blue). At this stage, the embryo (morula) is as a ball of cells that can specialize and form all the tissues in the body and the placenta. Sergi uses mouse embryos to investigate how cells communicate and interact to form the adult body; he aims to understand how the communication between cells can help us generate better regenerative therapies in humans.
Response Gallery
1/4
“I attempted to recreate the early mouse embryo. I used coloured paper and strawberry laces to try and show the tubulin. I chose this image to recreate because it fascinated me that the embryonic stem cells can differentiate into anything."
- Anonymous
2/4
“I was inspired by this image because this small cell is an embryo, and it will grow and grow until it turns into an actual mouse. I think this is inspiring as it shows the wonders of nature. I thought that the science behind the image was amazing because this small embryo will help us find out how cells communicate and interact to form the body, which could help therapies in humans. I remember thinking that the red shape looked like a football, so I coloured a football and stuck the blue parts on."
- Anonymous
3/4
“I liked the colour on the image on the left I looked around my house and garden . We have a fruit tree in the garden and it looked similar as it has a hole in the middle. This plant reminded me of stem cells
I took a picture of the plant and played around with the editing on my phone to achieve this end result."
- Anonymous
4/4
- Anonymous
'Synthetic embryo structure' by Sergi Junyent
Original Image
This image by PhD student Sergi Junyent shows a synthetic embryo structure formed solely from stem cells cultured in the lab. The colours indicate stem cells with different properties. Sergi uses these synthetic embryo-structures as models to investigate how stem cells communicate with each other to self-organize. By exploring cell-to-cell communication in the embryo he aims to generate better regenerative therapies.
Response Image
“I attempted to recreate the early mouse embryo. I used coloured paper and strawberry laces to try and show the tubulin. I chose this image to recreate because it fascinated me that the embryonic stem cells can differentiate into anything."
- Anonymous
'Human skin cells' by Victor Negri
Original Image
This image by Post Doc Victor Negri shows different skin cells from a human sample growing in a plate. The skin contains different cell types, and is responsible for protecting our body against external forces. In this photo you can find two types of cells that are crucial for the maintenance of skin: the smaller stem cells (or progenitors) and larger cells that are becoming specialised skin cell types. The larger red cells are the cells that have specialised and cannot divide anymore and located in the most external part of the skin. They are the ones that protects our body against mechanical forces, pathogens and dehydration for example. The smaller cells, are stem cells that are dividing our whole life forming the differentiated cells. It is very important to be able to differentiate this two cell types when we are working in the lab as we are investigating how a stem cell can become a differentiated keratinocyte (what we call the most abundant cell type in the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin).
Response Image
“I chose this piece of research as it is of the skin, the largest organ in the body and is not given it's full credit, after all, it is a key physical barrier in the face of pathogens. I used paint and washing up liquid and I blew on it with a straw to expand it and put it on a paper. I used these materials as they involve expansion/growth which is what the picture is about, skin tissues growing in a dish."
- Anonymous
Want to submit a Response?
If you would like to submit a response, please see 'RecreateScience' where you can find entry details including previous examples and the latest available research images for download and use. The Illuminations team are planning an online Science-Art exhibition in September 2020 where your #RecreateScience images could be featured!