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The 3D Pollen Project Project ID: 00000C627 Public
93 Media · 35 Specimens · Managed by: Oliver Wilson

Pollen is amazing stuff. Made of sporopollenin, 'the diamond of the plant world', pollen grains are among nature's toughest creations. They can help reconstruct the past, solve crimes, deliver medicines, genetically engineer plants and figure out what's in your honey - and yes, they can give you hayfever too. But because these grains are so small it can be problematic for pollen scientists to showcase their work to others without using microscopes. And even with microscopes it can be difficult to interpret pollen's three-dimensional structure from flat, two-dimensional images. This means that learning pollen identification is often a significant challenge, making use of photos and drawings in a process that has hardly changed for decades. 3D-printing has the potential to transform this, but currently no freely available pollen model files exist. The 3D Pollen Project aims to address this. Led by PhD student Oliver Wilson, the Project is a collaboration between the Universities of Reading and Hull, UK, funded by the University of Reading Teaching and Learning Development Fund, and by Mangorolla CIC and the Wellcome Trust through the I'm A Scientist competition. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy, we are producing accurate, printable 3D models of pollen grains from reference and herbarium material, and making them available online for non-commercial use. We hope they will be of use and interest to scientists, communicators, teachers and the wider public, for outreach, education and research.

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  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000068792 Pollen hlu:ccc:413 Quercus petraea Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-06 Open Download  
000068789 Pollen hlu:ccc:444incid Incertae sedis Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-06 Open Download  
000068785 Pollen hlu:ccc:731incid Pinus sp. Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-06 Open Download  
000068796 Pollen (hydrated) hlu:ccc:731 Quercus robur Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-06 Open Download  
000076054 Pollen manch:polrefcol:MA_AZR_72 Cedrus atlantica Volumetric Image Series 2019-04-26 Open Download  
000082101 Pollen manch:polrefcol:UK_WB_05_WB110159 Cedrus deodara Video 2019-06-27 Open Download  
000082102 Pollen manch:polrefcol:UK_WB_05_WB110159 Cedrus deodara Mesh 2019-06-27 Open Download  
000082185 Pollen manch:polrefcol:UK_MAN_10 Cedrus libani Video 2019-06-28 Open Download  
000082186 Pollen manch:polrefcol:UK_MAN_10 Cedrus libani Mesh 2019-06-28 Open Download  
000082190 Pollen rng:P0042294 Acer campestre Mesh 2019-06-28 Open Download  
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