Luminescense, 2019
Digital prints mounted on acrylic. 5x7 in.
This visual pairing of microscopic cells and jellyfish links and celebrates a local Northwest (Puget Sound) species with a remarkable scientific achievement that would become a key technique in cell research: in 1962 Dr. Frank Johnson and Dr. Osamu Shimomura isolated the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, which they collected during many summers at the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories. This protein fluorescnes green when illuminated with ultraviolet light and is used to tag the expression of otherwise invisible proteins, rendering visible the inner secrets of cellular processes.
The cells were photographed with a widefield fluorescence microscope in the Wordemann Lab in Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington. The jellyfish were photographed at the Monterrey Aquarium, the Vancouver Aquarium, and the Seattle Aquarium.
Cells
1. Foreskin fibroblast cell (microtubules)
2. Foreskin fibroblast cell (actins)
3. Foreskin fibroblast cell (actins)
4. HCT116 colon cancer cells (protein and microtubules)
5. HeLa cervical cancer cells (microtubules)
Jellyfish
1. Sea Gooseberry
2. Spotted Comb Jelly
3. Sea Nettle Jelly
4. Moon Jelly
5. Purple Striped Jelly
