Have a little heart
FRANKFURT, GERMANY
Well... what it looks like very close-up.
What you're actually seeing are the actin-based protein structures within cells that form sarcomeres – the structures responsible for making your heart beat. These structures are woven with highly interconnected mitochondrial networks (seen here in blue) that are crucial for the heart's energy supply.
These sarcomeres are particularly special as they're made from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. "Heart cells can't regenerate after damage," says Dr Till Stephan, a German cell biologist at Goethe University in Frankfurt, who took this award-winning picture. "So cardiomyocytes [heart cells] derived from iPS cells may one day be routinely used to repair heart injuries."
Stephan took this photo using microscopy, which he describes as "a vital tool in life sciences". Microscopy allows researchers to study individual cells at a subcellular level, unveiling the complexity of structures and processes within them.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2025 من BBC Science Focus.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2025 من BBC Science Focus.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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