Each year, Nikon’s Small World in Motion Video Competition celebrates the intersection between science and art by recognizing microscopy videos that stand out for their originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact. Nikon Instruments Inc. has now unveiled the winners of the 12th annual Small World in Motion competition, with the first prize awarded to Dr. Eduardo E. Zattara of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in Argentina for his brightfield and confocal fluorescence microscopy video of neural crest cell migration in a developing zebrafish embryo. The time-lapse video, captured over an eight-hour time period with 20X objective lens magnification, “highlights the beautiful and dynamic study of evolutionary developmental biology,” Nikon officials said in a statement.
“This recording came out very clean and required almost no post-processing. It is an astonishing display of the dynamics of neural crest cell migration,” said Zattara. “The result was a video that was both biologically informative and visually striking. It was by far my favorite microscopy video to render.”
Zattara used fluorescence to create contrast between the various cell functions present during this window of zebrafish embryo development. Sensory organ progenitors, which are derived from neural crest cells, are seen labeled in green as they migrate along the lateral line of the embryo. Melanocytes, labeled in orange, travel beneath the organism’s skin to reach their final shapes and destinations. The migration of neural crest cells is an essential precursor to the development of specialized vertebrate organs.
“While I maintain several lines of work ranging from genomics to community ecology, my main interest lies in the interaction between ecology, evolution and development. I am particularly interested in how developmental capabilities can affect evolutionary routes and ecological outcomes. While I like to consider all scales of life, I always focus on the organism to understand biological systems,” said Zattara.
“This year’s winning entry not only reflects the remarkable research and trends in science, but also gives the public a glimpse into a hidden world that can only be seen through a microscope,” said Eric Flem, communications and CRM manager, Nikon Instruments. “As imaging technologies continue to advance, we are seeing more scientifically relevant events in higher and more visually detailed quality.”
The second place prize in the Small World in Motion competition went to Dr. Cristophe Leterrier from the Institute of NeuroPhysiopathology (INP) CNRS-AMU UMR7051, NeuroCyto Lab, in France, for his 12-hour time-lapse video of cultured monkey cells with plasma membrane labeled in orange and DNA labeled in blue. This video required Leterrier to keep the cells alive for the full acquisition period with proper temperature and humidity control, as well as by minimizing phototoxicity from laser illumination. This video was captured with a confocal microscope with 60X objective lens magnification.
The third place prize was awarded to Dr. Ahmet Karabulut of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Gibson Lab, USA, for his video capturing the dynamic processes of sea anemone neurons and stinging cells. Karabulut utilized confocal fluorescence microscopy, 40X objective lens magnification and image stacking to produce the final video.
The 2022 Small World in Motion entries were judged by a panel including Dr. Gustavo Menezes, the associate professor and head of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil; Dr. Nikolay Nikolov, senior video journalist at The New York Times; Annaliese Nurnberg, photo editor at The Washington Post; and Dr. Clare Waterman, cell biologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
The full list of winners and honorable mentions for the 2022 competition are available on the Nikon Small World website.