Monday, 10 November 2014

Scientists succeed in turning mice transparent

Tokyo: A Japanese research team has succeeded in turning mice transparent by administering them with special chemicals, a method the scientists say allows the observation of organs without dissection and contributes to learning progression of such diseases as cancers and diabetes, a media report aforementioned Friday.
The team comprised researchers from the government-backed Riken Institute and also the University of Tokyo, Xinhua reported  citing the Kyodo press agency. The research findings were printed Thursday in the US scientific journal Cell.

The process involves perfusion of the mice's organs with a chemical cocktail, dubbed cubic, which decolorises blood efficiently. By subjecting the organs to cubic  through blood vessels, the team was able to flip entire adult mice as well as specific organs transparent in 10-14 days.

While the technology existed to make mouse fetuses and the brains of adult mice transparent, turning adult mice and internal organs containing giant amounts of blood colorless had been difficult.

The process may also be used to mark particular types of cells to observe elements of the body in 3D. By marking the insulin-producing cell plenty in the pancreas of a diabetic mouse and creating the rest of the pancreas transparent, the team might observe the cell lots reduce in range.

Kazuki Tainaka, a scientist at the University of tokyo who co-authored the paper, said the findings "will have uses in many fields, such as analysis into the progression of cancer in organs."

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