As Seen on Reddit > Science
Visualizing the Unvisible — Check out these cool scientific illustrations from Digizyme
Have you seen the post on r/damnthatsinteresting about the “most detailed image of a human cell to date”? The post scored 28k in karma and received 974 comments before the mods locked and removed the image in the post.
Turns out that the image was posted and discussed four years ago — and it wasn’t removed then. The earlier post is titled “This is the most detailed model of a human cell to date, obtained using x-ray, NMR and cryoelectronic microscopy datasets.”
Since I found out about the image through the more recent post, let’s take a look at that one. In the comments, someone points out that the image originally shared is not an actual image of a cell but an artist’s rendering of a cell based on scientific images. And that they were produced by an art firm called Digizyme.
You can find the images on their site, here. Redditor A1sauc3d thought it looked like “badass abstract art at first glance.” I agree.
The “cell landscapes” explode with color and action, and your imagination can’t help but wonder if our cells are just tiny versions of a society. There are gatekeepers and janitors, highways and sideroads, and businesses of all kinds. Everyone is just moving around, going about their day.
Redditor nebanovaniracun described it as an “amusement park” and other redditors continued the thread by welcoming us to visit the “pirates of the pancreas.”
Redditor lectric_7166 says they “like to say that humans are actually just sentient self-replicating spaceships programmed to mine the universe for sugars to feed our pilots.” Sounds reasonable, especially after seeing the images.
The comment section has more than just penis jokes…there’s info, too! A few redditors discussed the colors and how they represent different elements (organelles and microstructures) in a eukaryotic cell (animal cell).
Redditor beeeel (four e’s) says that the “microtubules are all gray, the phospholipid bilayers are kinda beige, and the actin filaments are sorta khaki. They’ve chosen the colours deliberately but I’m not sure what all of the classes are.” In an edit, they say that there are “organelles visible, such as the mitochondrion on the left, or the endoplasmic reticulum on the right, but these are each made of a variety of different molecules, each coloured according to the designer’s choice.”
They go into colors more, talking about mitochondria and ATP synthase, the proteins used for energy production in cells. Science editor slash redditor NiktonSlyp explains it to us like we’re five year olds — and it is much appreciated.
NiktonSlyp goes on to explain ATP…
Digizyme does lots of really interesting projects, and the firm has won awards for their work. Check out this poster that explains the microenvironment of tumors. (Click on the link to see the whole poster — it’s fascinating, even if you don’t understand tumor immunology.
Way cool.
Ends up that kinesin, a motor protein, “walks” different proteins from one place to another. So says this related reddit post, from six years ago… Redditor Deathf4ce (wtf?) gave a little tidbit worth sharing: “kinesin would take about 12 seconds to travel the length of a normal cell unobstructed.” I think it takes me less than 3 seconds to walk from my living room to my kitchen, with obstructions!
I wonder what else we’ve learned about cells in the past few years. Probably enough to fill a few science journals. lol.
Overall…
There’s a whole lot more info, and it’s worth reading. My ADHD mind needs to move on, so on I go. Remember to take care of your body; you’re actually a galaxy hosting millions of tiny societies.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to check out my latest video on YouTube!
Jenny Claire is an award-winning educational materials writer, travel journalist, and food critic, formerly based in New York City and Taiwan. She calls a cute cabin in the woods of rural North Central Florida home, but lately she’s been spending most of her time cruising and traveling. She also was a secret travel critic and writer — but her lips are sealed on those details!
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