Scientists Make Human Organs Transparent to Allow 3D Maps at Cellular Level
Phoenix666 writes:
Transparent human organs allow 3D maps at the cellular level:
[Ed note: the organs being discussed "were obtained post mortem from Prof. Ingo Bechmann's lab at the University of Leipzig."]
For the first time, researchers managed to make intact human organs transparent. Using microscopic imaging they could revealed underlying complex structures of the see-through organs at the cellular level. Resulting organ maps can serve as templates for 3D-bioprinting technologies. In the future, this could lead to the creation of on demand artificial organs for many patients in need.
[...] Human organs are particularly stiff due to accumulation of insoluble molecules including collagen in tissues that have grown for years or even decades. Thus, traditional detergents that are used for making mouse organs transparent do not work on human organs, particularly adult ones. "We had to change our approach completely and start from scratch to find new chemicals which can make human organs transparent," says Shan Zhao, PhD student at Helmholtz Zentrum Mi1/4nchen and first author of the study. After exhausting trials, the team discovered that a detergent called CHAPS could make small holes throughout the entire stiff human organs. CHAPS allows additional solutions to travel deep into centimeters-thick human organs and convert them into a transparent structure.
Journal Reference:
Shan Zhao, Mihail Ivilinov Todorov, et al. Cellular and Molecular Probing of Intact Human Organs. Cell, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.030
If you didn't have to be dead first, it would be neat if you could be see-through.
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