It's a whole new world

Oliver Braubach's photo of Zebrafish olfactory bulbs was the third-place winner in Nikon's Small World competition. (Oliver Braubach Photo)

When Anton van Leeuwenhoek revolutionized the microscope, he opened a window to a whole new world: a world of living things so small no one had ever seen them before or even dreamed had ever existed. He saw life teeming in a drop of water and blood corpuscles racing through capillaries. His invention would change science forever.

Some 350 years later, a look through the microscope continues to fascinate. That fascination is the basis for Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography Competition, regarded as the leading forum for showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the microscope.

PhD student Oliver Braubach likes nothing better than to take out his camera and peel off some shots. But between polishing his thesis and applying for post-doc positions, there hasn’t been much time for creative pursuits.

'Speck of dust'

Even so, there’s something rather strange and beautiful about what he views through the microscope in the lab: the tiny olfactory bulbs of the zebrafish brain. Captured with his confocal microscope, the bulbs—no bigger than a speck of dust—have been magnified 150 times.

“These bulbs are such an intriguingly wired part of the brain,” explains Mr. Braubach, who entered his photo in the Small World international competition and captured third place. “I particularly like this image, you can see the entire structure. Every time I look at it, it just amazes me.”

Supervised by Professors Alan Fine and Roger Croll in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Mr. Braubach studies the zebrafish brain, which he says is remarkably similar to the human brain. The olfactory bulbs are used by the fish to process smells.

Asked if the zebrafish has a nose, Mr. Braubach responds that it does, and indeed, its skin is also incredibly sensitive to chemical stimuli. “It’s basically a swimming tongue and nose,” he says with a laugh. “It’s such a fascinating animal.”

Transparent

What makes the zebrafish especially interesting to study is that it is almost transparent, allowing researchers to look inside the brain while it is living. That means they can present an odour to the fish and watch as areas of its brain “light up.” The fish can also regenerate its fins, skin, heart, and brain under some conditions, according to a recent study reported in Nature. (See story: Research offers clues into how hearts can regenerate in some species in The New York Times)

With his thesis just weeks from completion, Mr. Braubach is taking up a postdoc position with Yale University. He says he’s going to miss Halifax, his home since he arrived here as an exchange student in high school from the tiny mountainous country of Liechtenstein in Europe. “When I’m done my PhD, I’m going to buy myself a beer and take my camera out—for fun.”

LINK: Nikon's Small World Micrography Competition