Images Dated 21st August 1998

Coloured SEM of a fungiform papilla of the tongue

Fungiform papilla of tongue. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a fungiform papilla of the tongue. The taste buds, the organs of taste, are found under the fungiform papillae. Fungiform papillae are covered by layers of stratified squamous epithelium, which constantly shed their dead cells (seen here as thin flakes) and replace them with cells from their underlying layers. Magnification unknown

© STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY