Cellular Magic on Show in Times Square

GE Healthcare’s IN Cell Image Competition illuminates the beauty of science.

The winning images from GE Healthcare’s annual IN Cell Image Competition lit up the night on NBC’s high-definition screen in Times Square, New York City, on 5-7 March.

This year’s competition saw over 70 incredible images generated by scientists in nine countries around the world using the IN Cell Analyzer system. The images were shortlisted by a scientific panel and the winners determined through a public vote.

“It’s a privilege to have a great opportunity to show once more the beauty of science to people in a multicultural place such as Times Square,” said the twice European Winner, Dr Miriam Ascagni from DIBIT-San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy. “My image shows bone marrow derived cells. The final goal is to use them to generate replacements for muscle cells that are lost because of injury or disease.”

Keiko Suzuki, the winner for Asia, from Showa University, Japan, said: “The IN Cell Analyser’s ability to take so many pictures in a short time allows us to save a lot of time. My image shows how osteoclasts communicate and fuse with each other. This is important, because by knowing the mechanism of fusion we can develop more effective drugs with less adverse effects.”

“I love the work I am engaged in right now, and this competition was an awesome bonus,” said North America winner Corey Seehus, of Brain Cells, Inc. “We’re trying to find a different way of finding small molecules that will work to induce differentiation in the neurons in the human brain.”