Interior design

The mitochondrion is the 'power house' of the cell. The internal structure of the mitochondrion — in particular, the shape of the infoldings of the inner membrane (cristae) — has long been debated. Now, three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions like the ones above are resolving the controversy. At top left, a slice through a rat liver mitochondrion is reconstructed, showing 44 cristae (yellow) and their narrow tubular connections to the surface of the inner membrane. (The outer membrane is colored red.) Dissecting the image allows the variety of these connections to be analyzed. Typical cristae with one connection to the inner membrane surface are colored blue at top right; those with two are colored orange in the lower left image. One crista with four external connections is colored purple in the image at lower left. The image at lower right shows what appears to be one mammoth crista (green) with seven external connections and several interlinked internal compartments. This labyrinthine organization of the intracristal spaces has important implications for the internal diffusion and possible compartmentalization of ions, metabolites and proteins inside mitochondria. For more details, see Mannella et Microscopists are in the unique position of being able to encapsulate great science with a single image. The data may be complex, but the visualization can be breathtaking. Now, Olympus has joined forces with Current Biology to offer a state-of-the-art digital camera for the best photomicrograph. We're not just looking for bright colours and strong imagery — though they might help — we want good science simply visualized, in any application, on any system. The winning entry will receive one of the new Olympus CAMEDIA digital cameras, the first film-free image recording and storage system for the leisure user. Individuals can submit up to five photomicrographs, each of which should be accompanied by a brief description of the image and be labelled with the name of the person submitting it. Transparencies would be preferred, although high-resolution glossy 10 " x 8 " prints are also acceptable. The winning image may be required in electronic format. The closing date for entries is 1st December 1997. Full set of rules on request. The 1997 Olympus–Current Biology photomicrography competition