Disco Tech

Give or take a jellyfish, not many animals are naturally transparent. Great news if you’re squeamish, but unfortunate when it comes to diagnosing diseases. Modern microscopes struggle when it comes to 'seeing' deep inside tissues, where opaque chemicals like fats block out laser light. Yet this mouse brain is completely transparent, almost like glass. A soak in a chemical solution gave its fat molecules an electrical charge, so they could be sucked out with a blast of current. This tissue clearing technique, called iDISCO, helps 3D microscopy to reveal brain cells (blue) and blood vessels (yellow). A purple stain highlights amyloid plaques, waste material that often clogs brain signals leading to dementia. These 3D plaque patterns vary between different brains – subtleties which may eventually lead to personalised treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

Website

• Image courtesy of Dr. Thomas Liebmann, The Rockefeller University
• Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
• Image copyright held by original authors
• Research published in Cell Reports, July 2016