3-D visualisation of kidney from a transparent mouseBIN YANG AND VIVIANA GRADINARUThe technique: Pumping tissue-clearing reagents through an animal’s circulatory system removes lipids and leaves the remaining tissues practically see-through, according to a paper published today (July 31) in Cell. The new method, which builds upon previous tissue-clearing techniques, enables 3-D visualization of cellular structures and connections throughout the body.
“This is a paper that develops the CLARITY technology to the next level,” said Karl Deisseroth, a professor of bioengineering at Stanford University in California. Deisseroth was not involved in the new research, but developed the tissue-clearing method CLARITY upon which the new technique is based. “The published passive clearing methods were pretty good for whole adult mammalian organs,” he said, “but this really enables the whole body, or whole embryo [to be imaged].”
The history: There are countless reasons why scientists and clinicians would want to look inside tissues and organs, but “thick tissue is not optically amenable,” said Viviana Gradinaru, the professor of biology at Caltech who led the new research. Fat molecules absorb and scatter light making the tissues appear cloudy, she ...
