What is this intriguing image you may ask? No, it’s not a distant vision of our universe or a throwback to an early 2000s screensaver. Each year the talented researchers at Nottingham Trent University – at which 86% of research is classed as world-leading or internationally excellent – are asked to submit one photo of their discoveries to the annual Images of Research competition.
This year’s winner is Shraddha Bajpai, a Research Assistant in the School of Science and Technology, who took viewers deep into our genetic make-up with her image, Last Duct Standing.
“This vivid and intimate image captures a solitary pancreatic duct (green) holding its ground amidst a dense network of cancer-associated fibroblasts (magenta), forming a striking visual of cancer dynamics in context,” Shraddha said, explaining the meaning behind the winning image.
The competition is a unique opportunity for NTU’s research community, including postgraduate research students, to put the academic lingo aside and raise their research profile in a creative and artistic way. Our Photography Editor, Dani Bacon, was part of the judging panel and helped select this powerful image.
“Captured at 63x magnification using a Leica Thunder microscope at the university’s Medical Technologies Innovation Facility, this image comes from a patient sample diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer.
“The blue areas mark the nuclei of individual cells, and red speckles represent molecular signals we're tracking as part of our research into the tumour microenvironment. Our focus is on how long non-coding RNAs, once thought to be mere noise in our genes, actively influence the behaviour of both cancer cells and their supportive allies like cancer-associated fibroblasts.
“This image speaks to the resilience of bodily structures amid overwhelming pathological change - an island slowly engulfed by a transforming landscape. It’s a snapshot of cancer in motion, revealing both its complexity and the beauty of discovery.”
To find out more about NTU’s Images of Research, please head to their website.
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