Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
BLOCK WORK MEDIA GROUP
Doritos has Yellow Dye that Helped Scientists Make Mice Skin Transparent
3 days ago
Photo bygoogle
In a breakthrough study, researchers led by Dr. Zihao Ou, an assistant professor of physics at The University of Texas at Dallas, have discovered a method to make the skin of live mice transparent using a common yellow food coloring called tartrazine. This innovative process, which is reversible, opens new possibilities in biomedical research by allowing direct visualization of blood vessels and internal organs. The study, published on September 5 in the journal Science, is already being hailed as a game-changer for optical imaging in biological research.
Tartrazine (also known as FD&C Yellow #5) is commonly used in products like Doritos to give them their distinctive bright yellow or orange color. It is a synthetic lemon-yellow azo dye that is approved by the FDA for use in foods, beverages, and other products. You'll often find it in snack chips, candies, sodas, and other processed foods. However, the exact ingredients can vary by country and specific product variations, so it's always a good idea to check the packaging for the most accurate information.
The "Magic" of Transparency
The research team, including colleagues from Stanford University, where Dr. Ou was previously a postdoctoral researcher, applied a mixture of water and tartrazine to the skin of live mice. Tartrazine, also known as FD&C Yellow #5, is commonly found in yellow or orange-colored snacks, candy coatings, and other foods. This dye is certified by the Food and Drug Administration for use in food products, ensuring its safety for living organisms.
Dr. Ou explained that living skin, like fog, is a scattering medium that blocks most light from passing through it. However, by combining tartrazine — a light-absorbing molecule — with skin tissue, the researchers achieved transparency. "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 Dr. Ou.
The magic occurs because dissolving tartrazine in water alters the solution’s refractive index, aligning it with the refractive index of tissue components like lipids. In simple terms, the dye molecules reduce the amount of light scattered in the skin tissue, much like clearing a fog bank.
Observing Blood Vessels and Organs in Real Time
In their experiments, the researchers applied the tartrazine solution to the skin on the skulls and abdomens of live mice. After the dye diffused into the skin, the treated areas became transparent, allowing researchers to directly observe blood vessels on the brain's surface and internal organs, including the rhythmic muscle contractions known as peristalsis in the abdomen.
The transparency takes a few minutes to appear, similar to how facial creams or masks work, depending on how quickly the molecules diffuse into the skin. The process is also entirely reversible; any remaining dye can be washed off, and the dye that diffuses into the skin is metabolized and excreted through urine.
Dr. Ou emphasized the safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the dye: "It’s important that the dye is biocompatible — it’s safe for living organisms. In addition, it’s very inexpensive and efficient; we don’t need very much of it to work."
Potential Applications and Future Research
While this method has not yet been tested on humans, whose skin is approximately ten times thicker than a mouse's, the implications of this research are far-reaching. "In human medicine, we currently have ultrasound to look deeper inside the living body," Dr. Ou noted. "Many medical diagnostic platforms are very expensive and inaccessible to a broad audience, but platforms based on our tech should not be."
One of the first applications of this technique could be to enhance existing research methods in optical imaging. "Our research group is mostly academics, so one of the first things we thought of when we saw the results of our experiments was how this might improve biomedical research,” Dr. Ou said. “Now that we can make tissue transparent, it will allow us to look at more detailed dynamics. It will completely revolutionize existing optical research in biology.”
Dr. Ou will continue his research in the new Dynamic Bio-imaging Lab at UT Dallas, in collaboration with Dr. Guosong Hong, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford. The next steps will involve exploring the optimal dosage of tartrazine for human tissue and experimenting with other molecules, including engineered materials that could perform more efficiently than tartrazine.
About Dr. Zihao Ou
Dr. Zihao Ou holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China and a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His doctoral research focused on electron microscopy, a technology that uses electron beams to produce high-resolution images of specimens.
Driven by a desire to impact more people, Dr. Ou shifted from materials science to biological imaging techniques after completing his Ph.D. He joined UT Dallas to further explore cross-disciplinary research opportunities and bring his background in physics and materials science to the biomedical field.
“UT Dallas researchers in mathematics, chemistry, biology, and physics are really thinking about how fundamental science can be used to improve biomedical applications,” he said. “I saw this as an exciting and unique opportunity for me.”
Dr. Ou and his team's innovative work with tartrazine opens new avenues in medical imaging and biomedical research. By making live tissue transparent, this technique could revolutionize how scientists and doctors study the human body, making cutting-edge imaging techniques more accessible and cost-effective.
For those curious to try a home experiment with tartrazine, the National Science Foundation has created an exercise for adults. Check out the details and directions on their website.
As Dr. Ou and his colleagues continue their groundbreaking research, the scientific community eagerly awaits further developments in this exciting field.
By AUTISM LATINO MAGAZINE in Association with BLOCK WORK MEDIA GROUP
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0