microscoPICS
The universe within
There is a world inside the human body that we rarely get to see. Researchers at the Institute for Biomedicine have been using microscopes and cells grown in the laboratory to make this invisible world visible: from a single neuron reaching out to its neighbors to the intricate networks that help a heart beat or a brain take shape.
These images were not created as works of art. They are part of biomedical research, helping scientists investigate how our bodies develop, how cells communicate, and what changes when we become ill.
microscoPICS invites you to look closer, ask questions, and discover the intricate world of life within us.
microscoPICS is also a physical exhibition at Eurac Research, open from 8 to 23 October 2026. The exhibition can be visited from 8 am to 5 pm at Viale Druso 1 in Bolzano.
The Research Behind the Images
The images in this exhibition are born from scientific questions. How do cells develop over time? How do they communicate with one another? What happens when a tissue becomes diseased? And how can we better understand these processes to protect human health?
The neurons, miniature cardiac tissues, and organoids displayed in this exhibition are much more than the result of advanced microscopy techniques. They are human cellular models used as research tools: systems that allow scientists to recreate aspects of physiology and disease in the laboratory and observe phenomena that would be impossible to study directly in the human body.
These observations are closely connected to the analysis of health, genetic, and molecular data. These data guide experimental research, while laboratory studies help interpret the data and uncover the biological mechanisms behind them.
The Institute for Biomedicine
The Institute for Biomedicine at Eurac Research investigates how health and disease are shaped by the interaction between genetics, environment, and lifestyle, with the goal of developing increasingly precise approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, an approach known as Precision Health.
Research is organized into two complementary areas. Health Data Science analyzes large-scale epidemiological, genomic, and molecular data, including data from the CHRIS study, a longitudinal population study which follows more than 13,000 participants in South Tyrol over time. Translational Biology brings these findings into the laboratory, where disease mechanisms are explored using advanced human cellular models, including organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), assembloids, and microphysiological systems.
These two areas work in close synergy: data help guide experimental research, while laboratory findings enrich data analysis. This continuous exchange builds an integrated understanding of human health and helps advance Precision Health.
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