Combining knowledge of neuroscience and chemical engineering, scientists from Stanford University (USA) have createda three-dimensional technique that allows you to see through biological tissuesand thus makes any organ transparent. The method, tested withmouse brains immersed in a hydrogel, allows keeping the biological structures intact and has been baptized with the name of CLARITY (clarity, in Spanish).
To develop it, scientiststhey extracted the opaque elements of the brain, essentially the fat or lipid molecules, which help form the cell membrane, give the brain much of its structure and protect it from certain chemicals. But, although they are essential, they have the disadvantage thatmake the brain impervious to light. By replacing lipids with a hydrogel so that the brain does not lose its structure, our brains become transparent, which allows us to analyze the fine structure of the brain postmortem without actually sectioning it
“This breakthrough will transform the waystudy the anatomy of the brain and how diseases change it“says Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health of the United States. Moreover, according to scientists, the process will transform the current” mysterious black box “that is the brain into a transparent organ for science.
The new technique makes it possible to image the interior of biological systems on a large scale and virtually ‘travel’ through them. In this way, videos of the hippocampus have been generated, a brain area involved in such important aspects as learning, memory and emotions.
The researchers, who have released their results in the journalNature, have also tested the technique with zebrafish and human brains, with excellent results.
