Introduction to Real-Life Invisible Skin: Discusses the discovery of a substance that makes mouse skin transparent, echoing H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man. [Music] in h Well's 1897 science fiction novel The Invisible Man the protagonist invents a serum that makes the cells in his body transparent by controlling how they bend light more than 100 years later scientists have discovered a real life version of the substance a commonly used food coloring can make the skin of a mouse temporarily transparent allowing scientists to see its organs function according to a new study published Thursday in the journal science the breakthrough could revolutionize biomedical research and should it be successfully tested in humans have wide ranging applications in medicine and healthare such as making veins more visible to draw blood researchers made the skin on the skulls and bellies of live mice transparent by applying a mixture of water and a yellow food coloring called tartrazine washing away any remaining solution reverse the process which did not harm the animals the mice's fur was removed before the application of the solution for those who understand the fundamental physics behind this it makes sense but if you aren't familiar with it it looks like a magic trick said the study's first author Zha o assistant professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas in a statement light absorbing D molecules the magic uses insights from the field of Optics light absorbing D molecules enhance the transmission of light through the skin by suppressing the tissue's ability to scatter light the dye when mixed with water modifies the refractive index a measure of the way a substance bends light of the aquous part of the tissue to better match the index of proteins and fats in the tissue the process is akin to a dissipating cloud of fog we combined the yellow dye which is a molecule that absorbs most light especially blue and ultraviolet light with skin which is a scattering medium said o who conducted the study as a post-doctoral researcher at Stanford University in California individually these two things block most light from getting through them he said but when we put them together we were able to achieve transparency of the mouse skin once the dye had completely diffused into the skin the skin became transparent it takes a few minutes for the transparency to appear oo said it's similar to the way a facial cream or mask works the time needed depends on how fast the molecules diffuse into the skin the team experimented with chicken breast before conducting work on live animals in mice the researchers were able to observe blood vessels directly in the surface of the brain through the transparent skin of the skull the mice's internal organs were visible in the abdomen as well as the muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract the transparent areas take on an orange-ish color a said similar to that of the food Experimentation with Chicken Breasts: Details the team's initial experiments with chicken breasts before moving on to live animals. do the D used in the solution is commonly known as FD and C yellow number 5 certified for use by the US Food and Drug Administration the synthetic dye is frequently used in orange or yellow colored snack chips candy coating ice cream and baked goods however a 2021 study by the California office of environmental health hazard assessment linked the coloring with behavioral difficulties Concerns about Food Coloring: Addresses the potential health concerns associated with the food coloring used in the solution. and decreased attention among children a state Bill if signed into law would B and the use of the food coloring in food served in public schools in California how said it was important that the dye is biocompatible safe for living organisms in addition it's very inexpensive and efficient we don't need very much of it to work he said possible biomedical applications for humans the researchers have not tested the process on humans and it's not clear what dosage of dye or delivery method would be necessary human skin is about 10 times thicker than that of a mouse according to the researchers looking forward this technology could make veins more visible Potential Biomedical Applications for Humans: Explores the possible applications of the transparent skin technology in the medical field. easing the procedure of drawing blood or administering fluids via a needle especially for elderly patients with veins that are difficult to locate said senior author guong Hong a Stanford assistant professor of Material Science via email moreover this Innovation could assist in the early detection of skin cancer improve light penetration for deep tissue treatments like photodynamic and photothermal therapies and make laser-based tattoo removal more straightforward Christopher Roland a senior lecturer in the department of bioengineering at Imperial College London said he was kicking himself for not coming up with the same insight as the Stanford Le team which is based on the widely studied and long-standing physics principle called Kramer's cronig relations when a material absorbs a lot of light at one color it will bend light more at other colors it's blatantly obvious when someone points it out but no one had thought of it for 10 and something year said Roland who wasn't involved in the study but co-authored a Acknowledgment of Physics Principle: Discusses the recognition of the physics principle behind the transparency of skin by a senior lecturer. commentary published alongside the research along with John grei an experimental Optical physicist at the same institution who also wasn't involved in the study Roland wrote that the approach offered a new way to visualize the structure and activity of deep tissues and organs in a living animal in a safe temporary and non-invasive manner the duo noted the discovery was an example of Life imitating art with the die solution echoing the serum imagined in The Invisible Man the protagonist in the story invents a serum that renders the cells in his body transparent by precisely controlling the refractive index to match that of the surrounding medium air they wrote 127 years later biocompatible dieses make living tissues transparent by tuning the refractive index of the surrounding medium to match Life Imitating Art: Compares the real-life discovery to the fictional serum in H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man and discusses limitations of the current approach. that of the cells however U and Hong said a totally invisible mouse was a stretch the current approach cannot render bone transparent so far we only tested soft tissues including brain muscle and skin we haven't done much investigation with hard tissues such as bone so I am not sure if we would be able to make the mouse completely invisible a you said via email however ever a partially transparent Mouse will already enable numerous research opportunities to answer questions relating to development regeneration as well as aging