Hay fever: Face your Enemy / Nature

Hay fever sufferers can now see the face of their invisible enemy - thanks to these Scanning Electron Microscope images of pollen grains. A Swiss scientists named Martin Oeggerli, who uses the name Micronaut for his art, uses a Scanning Electron Microscope in his cellar to capture images of pollen grains. 

Hay fever (allergic rhinitis or pollinosis) is the most common allergic disorder and is caused by breathing in pollen particles and by pollen getting into the eyes. You can get hay fever at any time from early spring to late summer, depending on which pollen or pollens you’re allergic to.

The types of pollen that most commonly cause allergic reactions are produced by the plain-looking plants that do not have showy flowers. These plants manufacture small, light, dry pollen granules which can be carried for great distances by the wind. In addition, most allergenic pollen comes from plants that produce it in huge quantities. A single ragweed plant can generate a million grains of pollen a day. The pollens most likely to cause problems in early spring are those from trees such as the silver birch, poplar, ash, oak and plane.

Generally speaking, the tiny, hardly visible pollens of wind-pollinated plants are the predominant...


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