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

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Wintery Neurons
01 December 2015

Wintery Neurons

For some people this picture resembling an upside-down watercolour of leafless trees, may bring thoughts of bleak mid-winter, but for the scientists whose hard work the image represents, the thoughts are likely to be more joyful and triumphant. The trees are in fact neurons in a section of brain from a dog that has been successfully treated with gene therapy. Brown staining of the cells shows the presence of the gene's product: an enzyme called TPP1. Kids with mutations in the TPP1 gene develop a rare but devastating neurodegenerative condition called Batten disease, which is characterised by seizures and the gradual loss of vision, speech, cognitive ability and mobility. Death before age ten is common. Encouragingly, in dogs with a naturally occurring version of the disease just one dose of TPP1 gene therapy resulted in the animals living longer with noticeable improvements in their cognitive ability and quality of life.

Written by Ruth Williams

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.