Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Making Animal Skin Transparent
950 Making Animal Skin Transparent
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
We have several ways to look inside the human body. The CT scan is computerized tomography which uses X-rays and computers to create highly detailed images of our bones and tissues.
MRI or magnetic resonance imaging uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create high-def images of tissues and organs. Both are non-invasive and help doctors diagnose.
But there may be a new way to look inside the body. Rubbing FDA-approved food dyes on the skin of a living animal can render it almost transparent!
The idea isn’t new. Scientists have been doing this for years using harsh chemicals which are fine with dead animals but toxic to live ones.
This new study found that rubbing a common food dye – tartrazine – on the shaved skin of a mouse made its skin transparent and gave it an orange hue.
The more dye they applied; the more transparent the mouse’s skin became. The researchers could see with the naked eye, the animal’s heart beating, food passing through its intestine, and detailed muscle action.
A red dye allowed them to see through the animal’s skull into the brain to observe neuronal brain activity. When they injected dye under the skin, they saw deeper into the tissues. This means scientists may get to study animals without sedating or dissecting them.
However not all tissues can be made transparent, and the effect is temporary. Maybe this is a step closer to “Star Trek” medicine where a future “Bones” can diagnose patients with a wave of his tricorder!
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
