Experiencing the Microscopic

Many of us have sat awe-struck at the wonderful TV documentaries exploring the depths of space or the Attenborough shows revealing the hidden worlds across our planet, but there's another secret world that we don’t explore as often: the unknown microscopic universe of the human. Microscopy and imaging technologies allow us to observe these microscopic galaxies, but a new exhibition has taken that experience to a whole new level. ‘Cell Worlds’ is an installation in Bordeaux, France that takes stunning microscopy images out of the labs and off the hard drives of biologists and instead allows you to journey through the cellular world of the human body showing how cells move, divide or how cancer cells invade and more. This immersive exhibit displays cells in all their beauty and fragility in proportions never seen before and celebrates the diversity and wonder of what makes us human.

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from the Cell Worlds exhibition, from research by Jean-Léon Maître. Photographer Youenn Lerb. Art Centre Managed by Culture Spaces
• Cell Worlds Exhibition 11 February 2022 – 2 January 2023
• Image copyright held by Youenn Lerb
• Jean-Léon Maître, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France