You'd never guess, but this is a close up of a moth's wing, captured by Kevin Mackenzie.
Now in its 11th year, the annual sci-med photography competition just gets bigger and better. The awards have grown from being a staple of the specialist press into eye-catching features for the mainstream press. This year, even the Financial Times has the story.
As usual, the images draw on a number of biomedical and scientific techniques, including brain scans, photomicrography and scanning electron micrography. The selection also includes an animation and a photograph of surgeons.
This year’s crop is as good as ever. The viewer is thrice wowed: at the incredible beauty of biology, at the inventiveness of the human species in unravelling that beauty, and at the scientists’ skills in capturing that beauty. A well-posed parade of neurons can take the breath away just as the best Turner or Titian. If you’ve ever wondered why people go into the sciences, the Wellcome Image Awards will give you 21 good reasons.
You can view the 21 winners free at Wellcome Collection until 10 July.
