Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Flash Points
05 November 2012

Flash Points

Starting at a single point in the night sky, fireworks explode out in all directions. Careful choreographing of firework focal points is the key to a beautifully balanced display. On a smaller scale, the actin architecture in our cells starts in a similar way. Actin is one of the main components of the cell's cytoskeleton – the internal scaffolding that helps cells keep their shape. Strings of actin assemble into a highly ordered network of bundles to help the cell move and grow. The molecular Catherine wheel pictured is the product of work that aims to understand how these structures arrange themselves. Like a firework, actin filaments burst from single 'nucleation points'. This research, which artificially placed these points around microscopic circles, showed that it’s the layout of start sites around the cell that dictates the ultimate structure of the actin network.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.