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Dornith Doherty

This collage of x-rays showcases a variety of plants that are unique to Australia, including banksia and eucalyptus. Doherty says the blue colour in part references the process of cryogenic preservation, which central to the methodology of saving seeds.

Inspired by the Australian acacia, which is one of the first plants to regenerate after wildfires, Doherty created this image by multiplying and collaging x-rays of a small sampling of a black wattle's tiny leaves.

Doherty created this x-ray view of a red yucca seed head because its internal structure reminded her of the architecture of seed banks.

Cloned plants, like this sweet potato, are genetic copies of the "parent" plant. Cloning can ensure that some traits are not lost, but it also makes them susceptible to the quick spread of disease.

"This looks like it could be a nebula or sea creature," Doherty says, but it's actually a red yucca seed head. The image "speaks about the shifting scales of time and life I encountered," she says.

To make this image, Doherty took x-rays of a small sampling of kangaroo grass leaves, then multiplied and carefully collaged them to suggest the plant’s dispersal.

This animated image shows sorghum, rice, beet, and triticale seeds in cycling colors. The shifts "between green to brown or green to blue refer to the process of drying and freezing involved in cryogenic preservation," Doherty says.

Snow blankets the land around the entry to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen Island, Norway.

At the biogenics lab at EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Brasilia, Brazil, agricultural researchers focus on developing enhanced germ cell lines with useful traits.

Doherty made this digital collage using x-rays of blight-resistant potato clones captured at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado.