Glass Microbiology: Artist Creates Glass Sculptures of Deadly Viruses

There is something extraordinary about someone who turns a bad experience into a motivation to create. For Luke Jerram, his affliction with the swine flu inspired him to create the unique collection. Named “Glass Microbiology,” each piece is a three-dimensional depiction of the pathogen up to 1,000,000 times its actual size. The artist intended to show each disease and virus in a different light to detach the emotion that usually comes with seeing a fully colorized image. Knowing what each delicate glass sculpture’s visual representation stands for is both haunting and chilling.

T4 bacteriophage

Malaria

Giardia

Adenovirus

Salmonella

Ebola

Smallpox

Avian flu (h5n1)

Swine flu (spherical)

Human Papillomavirus

E.coli

HIV

Ev71 – hand foot and mouth disease