Taung Bacterial Attack

Image of bacterial attack in bone by portable confocal scanning optical microscopy. A novel portable Nipkow disk-based confocal microscope invented and patented by the artist was employed in the imaging of facial bone from the famous “Taung Child” skull discovered from fossil bearing deposits at Taung, Boputhatswana, South Africa, approximately 3.0 m.y old.

This image illustrates the nature in which bacterial attack has removed tunnels of bone beneath the surface. The image was acquired by using the autofluorescence potential of bone. Thus, instead of using normal white light, the microscope was configured to image the green colored fluorescence of bone when using ultraviolet light. The image obtained here is a 3D image of bacterial attack, the orange color depicting damage at depth, surrounded by intact bone that is colored green.