This weeks cover photo for the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is really nice. The photo is of some rat alveolar macrophages taken from the lungs of rats taking up some polystyrene disk particles. I think it's a very pretty looking photo and demonstrates the wonderful function macrophages have in being the 'clean up' crew of the body. The photos accreditation is to Julie A. Champion who is the
author of an interesting paper published in that issue of PNAS, which is looking at how particle size and shape affects the uptake of particles by macrophages.
Wonderful photo. As a side note, I would suspect the sample was prepared for a scanning electron microscope and then the subsequent captured image above has been 'colourised' (just like Ted Turner!) by a computer. Normally images that you see through electron microscopes aren't very pretty and are pretty much just all grey.
