A new technique developed in Japan can take mice dead the color, making the tissues are almost transparent. The mice can then be observed on a type of fluorescence microscopy, allowing scientists to obtain images of organs. The study was published Thursday in journal Cell.
Scientists at the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center, on the outskirts of Tokyo, and the University of Tokyo, Japan, have developed a method that involves the discoloration of tissues, thus allowing the material to be traversed by the light.
The method had been developed to make transparent brains of mice, but scientists have been testing it in other tissues. “We were very surprised by the whole body of adult mice and young people have become completely transparent,” said Kazuki Tainaka, first author of the article quoted a statement from the RIKEN laboratory. “It allowed us to see the wireless networks within tissues, which is one of the fundamental challenges in biology and medicine.”
The microscopy technique allows then to obtain three-dimensional images from photographs of tissue layers. “This new method can be used for pathology and anatomical studies to three dimensions,” defended Hiroki Ueda, who led the team, said in the same statement. “Can be used to study the development of embryos or such as cancer and autoimmune diseases develop at the cellular level, leading to a deeper understanding of these diseases.”
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