Illustrations

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Cell real estate

In this cartoon, the nucleus is an orange sphere containing the cell’s DNA

Author: Aleksandr Kakinen

Software: Autodesk Maya

A new view of the Manhattan plot

The buildings are chromosomes; each window is an SNP.

Coral’s complex reproduction

An illustrator's challenge: show budding, brooding, and fragmentation on the reef.

Making batteries green

Can a strong, usable battery be made with organic materials?

A deadly dance

The Covid-19 spike protein is dynamic, changing its shape to fuse with cell membranes.

A naturalist’s notebook

Illustrator Bea Martin went to the intertidal zone with paper, pencils, and brush.

How a retrovirus helped placental mammals

A special protein is key to the tissue barrier between mother and fetus.

Colors that say, “Stay away!”

This moth's lifecycle includes ingesting poison for protection.

Photosynthesis: the planet-protecting lifecycle

Peer into a chloroplast and its important thylakoid membrane.

Seeing skin’s full spectrum

Brown skin comes in many colors, illustrator Hillary Wilson insists.

A Christmas tree, in diatoms

Beautiful microscopic creatures ring in the holidays.

The microscopic mysteries of ALS

An illustrator images Steven Hawking pondering synaptic space.

Phage fight — battling resistant bacteria

Harnessing bacteriophages to fight infection.

A new kind of Zoom

Who are these common characters from the life sciences?

Drawing spine surgery’s history

Illustrators can help today's doctors by drawing past surgical techniques.

Inside the path lab

Peer inside a pathology laboratory to see what happens to your diagnostic sample.

Designed for Furry Success

What does the skeleton of a highly specialized marine mammal reveal about its life?

Sleep trouble

A medical illustrator visualized air in motion to portray sleep apnea.

See the sea star?

Inverting its stomach is just one trick the echinoderm can use.

Anatomy’s climbing power

A muscular neck and shoulders and a forward center of gravity help mountain goats grip the cliffs.

Unveiling COVID-19’s secrets

Illustration can help scientists visualize their foe.

The yellowtail kingfish in aquaculture

Who knew fish food was so important? The fast-growing aquaculture industry does.