Scientists create see-through mice

It might be the stuff of nightmares for some but scientists have created see-through mice that could actually help us understand our anatomy.

To make the mice transparent, researchers from the California Institute of Technology first euthanised the rodents and removed their skin before treating them with chemicals.

The researchers say the transparent mice could help map out the body's system and show how cancer spreads.

Mice are used by scientists because they share similar biology to humans and can adjust to human diseases.

This similarity allows doctors to investigate samples of biopsies from diseases.

Although the idea of tissue clearing has been around for a century, to our knowledge, this is the first study to perform whole-body clearing, as opposed to first extracting and then clearing organs outside the adult body,” Viviana Gradinaru of the California Institute of Technology, who led the research, said.

Our methodology has the potential to accelerate any scientific endeavor that would benefit from whole-organism mapping, including the study of how peripheral nerves and organs can profoundly affect cognition and mental processing, and vice versa.”

Source: The Scientist, NBC

Author: Sally Stevens, Approving editor: Emily McPherson