Meet the winner of Nikon's Small World in Motion video contest
Ning Xu of Tsinghua University captured tiny cilia beating in airways of a child with rare respiratory disorder.
Ning Xu, a Chinese optical engineer from Tsinghua University in Beijing, emerged victorious in the 2021 Nikon Small World in Motion video contest. This international competition, initiated in 2011 as a spinoff of Nikon's Small World Photomicrography Competition, celebrates the magnificence and intricacy of microscopic life forms through time-lapse and motion photography.
Competitors submitted 346 entries from 40 nations, with Xu's super-resolution video of abnormal cilia beating in the airways of a child suffering from Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) claiming top honors. PCD is an inherited disorder that impacts the tiny hair-like structures, known as cilia, lining the lungs and other regions. These cilia typically exhibit rhythmic motion to assist in expelling debris like germs, mucus, and dust via coughing or sneezing.
However, in individuals with PCD, cilia may be malformed, undersized, missing, or fail to move properly, leading to recurrent respiratory infections and other health complications.
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