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Scientists have been able to make brain tissue transparent before, but experts called the new technique much more useful. To create transparent mouse brains, the Deisseroth team had to remove the fat that provides structure but also blocks light. The first step was to soak the brain in chemicals that would get inside and form a mesh. Once that mesh was in place to support the tissue, the scientists washed out the fat. The result: a see-through brain. Specialized stains can then make selected structures like brain cells visible and also reveal important chemical data, like the location of particular proteins. The stains can show details of brain circuits and the connections between different areas, as well as details of individual cells. "If the entire mouse brain is transparent, that makes a very large fraction of neuroscience research much easier," which in turn makes more experiments feasible, said Dr. R. Clay Reid of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. "This will make a lot of neuroscientists happy." ___ Online: Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/ Video of mouse brain images:
http://youtu.be/5xsVGRgx9IU
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