Bubblegram Virus

In the background, this image shows cryo-electron micrographs of purified viruses with their inner structure bubbling from radiation damage. Overlaid, (left), is a 3D computer reconstruction of a virus's outer shell and tail in gray, with the inner structure in magenta. The image on the right is a blow-up of the inner viral structure in magenta. Developed in the NIAMS Laboratory of Structural Biology Research, “bubblegram” imaging is a technique that allows researchers to view the inner structures of viruses clearly.