Clarity, organ transparency technique
A team of bioengineers from Stanford University has developed a methodology called Clarity, which allows the transparency of the organs without damaging them. In this way, they have made it possible to observe with great precision their structure and internal interactions. The invention has been announced in the journal Nature.
It is not easy for researchers to know the interactions within the systems: they have to divide into prepared tissue or organ to analyze and reconstruct it with the results.
The researchers knew that the double layers of lipids hinder the entry of light into the tissues and molecules used in the studies. Therefore, it was thought to create a system of extraction of lipids without damaging the structure of the tissues. It was not a challenge of any kind, since lipids are the main components of membranes, that is, those that support the structure and biomoleculae.
Well, to replace the support function of lipids, they created a hydrogel network to prevent the other components of the tissues from moving from their place of origin. Thus, the tissues were completely “mounted”, but totally transparent and permeable to the macromolecules. In the study, a mouse brain was used.
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