What does a chopped walnut stem look like? This highly magnified cross-section shows in detail the outer layer (epidermis) and inner tissue (cortex). The large cavities at the centre are vessels that transport sugar solution and minerals to and from the roots. The surrounding vessels transport water from the roots to the leaves.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Light Echo created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

The colours are so shiny and it looks three dimensional...

A close relative of the hamster the Mongolian gerbil is a popular pet. Cells from gerbils are also useful research tools for studying cancer, ageing and infectious diseases. Within the tiny sacs of gerbil lungs are cells that look like the one pictured. GeLu (Jell-Ooo) cells make collagen and other materials that help cells gel together.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Light Echo created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

The colours are so shiny and it looks three dimensional...

Your lungs can spread out across a tennis court and have around 1500 miles of tiny air sacs. As cells die they are replaced. Across the massive surface area of your lungs, there is considerable opportunity for the repair system to mess up. The CAT scan here pictured displays growths (top left hand side of the image) which are quite rare but can develop into cancer.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Electricity Planet created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Cell from the Brain of Catwoman created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman...

Seldom is death so beautiful than in outer space. At the core of this magnificent halo is a dying sun-like star, ten thousand times as luminous as our Sun. The outer halo looking like a splash of paint is not a feature of all nebulae. A nebula is a cloud of gas and dust where stars emerge or die.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Foot and Mouth created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

I chose to pair the cartwheel galaxy with the foot and mouth virus as I live on a farm and sadly that was infected with foot and mouth in 2001...

The Cartwheel galaxy used to be like the Milky Way until it bumped into a nearby galaxy a few hundred million years ago. Rather like a rock tossed into a pond, the impact sent ripples of gas and dust outwards at great speed. The stars are created on the crest of the waves (the outer blue ring).