2014 Small World In Motion Competition

The development of the zebrafish lateral line, the organ that senses water movements in the fish.

Dr. Mariana Muzzopappa Jim Swoger

Affiliation
Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Technique

4D SPIM (Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy)

Developing zebrafish lateral line (a sensory organ analogous to the mammalian inner ear that senses water movements in the fish). This organ develops from a primordium that starts migrating and deposits a group of cells called neuromasts, that contain mechanosensory hair cells and support cells. A combination of transgenic lines was used to label undifferentiated and support cells (membrane Tomato) and track hair cell development (cytoplasmic GFP) for 36 hrs.

Time-lapse of caffeine crystallization

Dr. Douglas Clark

Affiliation
Paedia Corporation
San Francisco, California, USA
Technique
Polarized Light

Time-lapse of crystals forming in a single drop of a saturated solution of caffeine in water (actual time of 20 minutes compressed into 40 seconds).