re: Image of a virus taken by an electron microscope

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I remember being in junior high biology in 1999 and having this exact shape in my textbook as a virus.

I thought this was pretty well known.

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I think it was discovered at least by the early 70s.

Just FYI. Basically, an electron microscope works by exposing something to a decaying metal which coats whatever you want to image in a thin layer of metal particles. Imagine Throwing paint on the invisible man:




The metal "Skin" now covering the thing youre imaging allows the electrons fired at it from the microscope to be reflected back into a collector and analyzed by a computer.

Naturally, these images are getting better every year and are often artificially colorized to be clearer and more relatable.

Here's a basic one of the T4 Bacteriophage:

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Here is the HIV virus budding from a host cell. This is how they spread, by forcing the human cells to create more viruses.





Here is a gif of a Phagocyte (a type of cell that engulfs bacteria to kill them) chasing one down and phagocyting it.




Here is some sort of Parasite being attacked by WBCs: