These photos were taken with a camera through the eyepiece of a light microscope. White light shines through drops of liquid media, in which purified protein molecules float. In the right concentrations and environments, some proteins form neat, repetitive, prismatic crystals—the kind from which scientists can extract a detailed picture of a molecule’s structure (at least, as it appears in in this frozen state). Some proteins, in some suspensions, organize another way, or crumble apart, or coalesce into murky aggregates. Several states of organization, aggregation, and dispersal are pictured in this gallery. Some pictures take colour from a polarizing light filter. Some pictures focus on patterns formed by tiny water droplets in the proteins’ micro-environments.