LOOKING more like an abstract painting or sculpture, this is actually a
prizewinning photograph of a lifesaving drug. Taken by Lars Bech, a retired
clergyman from Naarden in the Netherlands, it shows tiny crystals of
doxorubicin, an anticancer drug, captured under a microscope with polarised
light.
Bech beat off competition from hundreds of other entries to collect first
prize in the 1996 Nikon International Small World Competition. This annual event
aims to award excellence in photomicrography and, according to Lee Shuett, a
divisional manager at Nikon, to recognise 鈥渢he inherent beauty and importance of
the microworld鈥�.
Bech鈥檚 picture of the drug, dissolved in methanol and
dimethylbenzenesulphonic acid, is magnified 80 times. Other entries included
photographs of neurons and shrimps鈥� eggs. This year鈥檚 20 prizewinning photos
will be displayed on the Internet at
http://www.nikonusa.com/gallery/smallworld/smallworld.html.
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