This gallery displays images of human cells, made using a confocal fluorescence microscope. Cell nuclei are marked with a blue fluorescent tag (fluorophore). Meanwhile, the gold and green fluorophores each correspond to their own specific protein. One image is one plane in one instant; the fluorophores are like pigments, revealing the positions of proteins and nuclei in a layer of cells grown across the bottom of a plastic dish.

The visual results are of course part chance (cell appearance and arrangement, population density, level of fluorophore expression...), but there is also a lot of choice: the microscope and display settings (laser power, exposure...), which colours are shown or hidden, how the images are cropped for composition, and so on.