kra4 cc > 자유게시판

Yellow food dye found in chips and candy corn turns skin transparent in mice, study says

In H.G. Wells’ 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 found in snack foods and candies such as tortilla chips and candy corn 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 health care, such as making veins more visible to draw blood.
Light-absorbing dye molecules
The "magic" uses insights from the field of optics. Light-absorbing dye 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 aqueous 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 Ou, who conducted the study as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California.

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 reversed the process, kraken6gf6o4rxewycqwjgfchzgxyfeoj5xafqbfm4vgvyaig2vmxvyd.onion kraken7jmgt7yhhe2c4iyilthnhcugfylcztsdhh7otrr6jgdw667pqd.onion 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, Zihao Ou, assistant professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas, in a statement.