The microtubules took 5th place at the Nikon Small World in Motion competition.

A "donut" of mesmerizing, cell-forming microtubules moving in sync is among the top entries in Nikon's annual microscopic video competition. .

In the video, fluorescent microtubules move in synchronized waves around the channel, which is shaped like a donut with a hole in the middle.

"I have been involved in the study of the microtubule movement in this system for 3 years and I was exulting and awed when we managed to confine our material and we obtained this awesome video," Vélez-Ceron told Live Science in an email.

The microtubules "donut" video took fifth place at the Nikon Small World in Motion competition on Sept.

The winning entry of the 2022 competition was a time-lapse video of cells migrating in a developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo over a period of eight hours, according to a statement released by Nikon (opens in new tab).

A 12-hour time-lapse of cultured monkey cells took second place in the competition, while a video of sea anemone neurons and stinging cells took third place. .

Hydra are a group of age-defying jellyfish-like invertebrates that constantly replace their cells with new ones, making the creatures biologically immortal, Live Science previously reported. .