Mixing Science with Stitching

Back in the late 19th Century, our understanding of the brain was rudimentary at best. However, thanks to the meticulous work of people like Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish brain scientist, our knowledge of the network of cells that make up the human brain has expanded enormously.

Pyramidal neurons stitched by Jane Haley, the scientific coordinator for Edinburgh Neuroscience (source)

Santiago Ramón y Cajal spent countless hours drawing brain cells and structures. His research ultimately led to his winning the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1906. Now, scientists, artists and embroiderers associated with the University of Edinburgh have immortalised those drawings using needle and thread.

Various stitched cell types of the brain (source)

Conceived as a project to undertake during lockdown, volunteers have come from all around the world and with all kinds of backgrounds. The panels, when completed, will ultimately be sewn together into a tapestry, the purpose of which is to honour the work of Cajal, but also the complex beauty of the human brain.

Various stitched cell types of the brain (source)

If you would like to read more about this amazing project, you can view the article in Science News HERE.