Rivers of evil

In this immersive image by Yesim Guner, cerebral vessels stretch out in red in a complex tangle, while small green cells - the first tumor cells, appear, like silent shards of a process in progress.

This image reveals a rare moment: the very beginning of a glioblastoma. The tissue was rendered transparent, then imaged in 3D using light-sheet microscopy, enabling a dive into the scale of the entire organ, before invasion.

The vessels map out a territory that is still intact, but already infiltrated. Disseminated tumour cells begin their expansion in the shadows, following the vascular structure to anchor themselves.

This scene reveals the invisible: the moment when the tumor cannot yet be seen, but already exists, mobile, adaptive, almost stealthy.