Awards for Outstanding Works of Scientific Photography

Image: Anne Cavanagh and Dave McCarthy

The Wellcome Image Awards are given annually for achievement in scientific imagery. The 2009 winners were announced yesterday in London. Among those winners was the above image showing:

...the synthetic polymers used to coat a drug, either to target the release of the drug in a specific part of the digestive tract or to allow the drug to be released slowly. Polymers play an important role in reducing side-effects of drugs, as well as the number of times a patient needs to take a medication.

Scanning electron micrograph images are taken in black and white and are coloured later. The orange spheres contain the drug and the encapsulating co-polymers are coloured blue.

You can view more amazing works by prize winners at the link.

http://www.wellcomeimageawards.org/gallery.aspx# via io9 | Information About the Competition