Biological Image Analysis Virtual Lab

In this lab, students will learn to use image processing techniques to analyze and quantify image data from wet lab experiments such as those in cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology and immunology laboratories.


  1. Analysis of Molecular Gels: A Case Study in Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis
  2. Quantification of Stained Liver Cells
  3. Quantification of Bacterial Colonies on an Agar Plate
  4. Quantification of Amino Acids Present in a Mixture
  5. Quantification of Protein Present in a Sample

Simulation Steps:

The software can be downloaded from rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/download.html

Installation and System Requirements

ImageJ is an open source and freely available image analysis software. It can be freely downloaded and installed on any system that has a Java 6 (or later) runtime installed. This includes Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes.

For Windows:

Windows version (both 32-bit and 64-bit) of ImageJ is available bundled with java and without java. If the system is java enabled, the package can be downloaded directly without java. If not the case, it is recommended to download and install the version with java. Double click on the downloaded .exe file to install the software.

For Linux:

The Linux version of ImageJ (both 32-bit and 64-bit) is available and both versions include java. To install and run the software, extract the downloaded compressed file and execute the ‘run’ script.

For Mac OS X:

ImageJ software for Mac OS X can be downloaded as a compressed file. Expanding the zip file generates a folder “ImageJ” with the executables. The Mac OS X version of the software includes ImageJ64, which uses Java 1.6 in 64-bit mode on Intel Macs running OS X 10.5 or later.