Lab Crafts First Transparent Mice

Researchers have discovered a way to make whole see-through mice, complete with transparent organs, even while maintaining proper cellular structure. Experts claim that recently deceased test subjects with this incredible characteristic will allow them to further understand interactions between the brain and body of mammals.

Nature has its fair share of transparency. Deep sea and cave dwelling creatures often boast an absence of pigment and even total transparency, resulting in alien and ghost-like appearances. However, these are creatures that come from what are essentially alien worlds on earth, where an absence of light and extreme conditions call for traits utterly foreign to the Earth's surface.

In that sense, these remarkable mice are the first truly transparent mammals.

Their creation is detailed in a study that can be found in the journal Cell.

"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," senior study author Viviana Gradinaru in a recent release. "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."

It's important to note that these lab mice are not transparent mice when alive. Obviously pumping blood and other pigments are simply too important for any mammal's well-being.

Instead, the researchers now can turn a recently deceased animal transparent by delivering hydrogen and clearing reagents into the bloodstream. The agents are designed to diffuse through tissues while maintaining cell integrity, utterly clarifying them in less than three days. A whole mouse can be cleared within two weeks, according to the study.

Besides a see-through mouse just being pretty cool to see, Gradinaru claims that whole transparent mice will allow for researchers to actively observe sub-cellular interactions while in a more natural whole-tissue context, opposed to being extracted prior to observation.