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Chemical Cocktail Turns Mice Clear

sciencehabit writes "Researchers have serendipitously discovered that a mixture of urea, glycerol, and soap makes membranes transparent. When they tried the mixture on a developing mouse fetus, they found that it removed all of the pigment from the cells, rendering the fetus completely transparent. The technique allowed scientists to see fluorescent neurons buried several millimeters in the brain."

89 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I already see the next requirement from TSA..

    1. Re:wow by flaming+error · · Score: 1

      Non-transparent suspects I mean travellers can get a waiver if they have TSA-approved life-recorder implants.

    2. Re:wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Ad hominem" is not Latin for "that's mean!". The passage that you quoted is not an ad hominem argument.

    3. Re:wow by TWX · · Score: 1

      Don't worry... Try to bring too much lube through next time and the TSA will provide you with some...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:wow by operagost · · Score: 1

      Indeed. It's more like arguing guilt by association.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  2. Discovered in a previously unknown manuscript by gstrickler · · Score: 2

    Steinbeck's "Of Invisible Mice and Men".

    --
    make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    1. Re:Discovered in a previously unknown manuscript by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Not to mention Tom & Jerry...

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    2. Re:Discovered in a previously unknown manuscript by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 2, Funny

      I... I don't see what you did there.

    3. Re:Discovered in a previously unknown manuscript by jamiesan · · Score: 1

      Or a Hollywood remake.... "Hollow Mouse"

  3. Hold up on your patents! by RevWaldo · · Score: 2, Funny
    1. Re:Hold up on your patents! by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Informative

      They used extremely common lab materials and seem to have told everyone the recipe: no patent was sought here. If they we going to try to sell it, they'd announce they had a secret, proprietary formula that could make your embryos turn clear. RIKEN, the institute that made the discovery, is not greedy. I've gotten DNA constructs from them before, they provided them free of charge, no contact making us promise to not share it, etc. If I could speak Japanese and if they'd hire me, I'd love to work there.

    2. Re:Hold up on your patents! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Sorry mate, but anything involved in being clear requires a payment to your local Scientology chapter. We have effective ways of enforcing our intellectual property.

      Why do you think the music and movie industries can get politicians to accept continuous copyright extensions? That's because of the influence of Scientology. Just ask Tom Cruise.

    3. Re:Hold up on your patents! by Idbar · · Score: 1

      Ever wonder why he splashes everyone, but nothing else seemed to become invisible. I guess it only acts on cells! Good finding.

    4. Re:Hold up on your patents! by tepples · · Score: 1, Informative

      Dianetics, the auditing process by which one becomes "clear" of "engrams" (memories of past painful incidents), is just a fancy name for the PTSD treatment called abreaction therapy by psychologists. The obsession with "Psychlos" in Scientology is just Hubbard's attempt to hide this connection.

    5. Re:Hold up on your patents! by Zouden · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, the recipe itself is behind a paywall. Any chance of posting it here?

      --
      "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
    6. Re:Hold up on your patents! by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Good to know, but I did work in Japan for a month, and had about a year of Japanese. The language barrier wasn't impossible, and I would have learned, but it just wasn't for me. I was oversimplifying, language wasn't the only reason.

    7. Re:Hold up on your patents! by Niedi · · Score: 1

      Kerosene, propylene glycol, artificial sweeteners, sulphuric acid, rum, acetone, red dye no2, Scumm, axle grease, battery acid and/or pepperoni.

      No, actually it's even easier...
      4 M urea, 10% (wt/vol) glycerol and 0.1% (wt/vol) Triton X-100
      Which, seriously now, is really stuff you'll find in pretty much any biological lab.

    8. Re:Hold up on your patents! by NeverVotedBush · · Score: 1

      Sounds like the ingredient list to a Morton cream pie...

    9. Re:Hold up on your patents! by AkkarAnadyr · · Score: 1

      Those materials were available in the 19th century. I wonder if anyone previously discovered this?

      --

      I bought this house and you know I'm boss
      Ain't no h'aint gonna run me off

  4. Not the worst by ElrondHubbard · · Score: 2
    That's not the worst thing science has ever done to a mouse:

    http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/polytron.html

    --
    "The deep-fried Mars bar is a symptom of a wider crisis." -- Nutritionist Ann Ralph, on the Scottish diet
    1. Re:Not the worst by Hatta · · Score: 2

      You know, they do euthanize the mice before they homogenize them, right? Scientists are not wantonly cruel.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    2. Re:Not the worst by Stormthirst · · Score: 1

      Why would need an unaerated homogenated mouse?

    3. Re:Not the worst by Genda · · Score: 3, Informative

      When you "Blend" a mouse, you are typically doing some kind of chemical or cellular assay (depending on the level of blending you may be looking at whole cells, but more than likely you're looking at chemistry, genetic material or sub cellular organelles.) Making a Frappe' of Mr. Muscus, really makes doing other testing difficult to impossible and adding large amounts of oxygen to disrupted tissues damages delicate cellular chemistry, ultimately ruining your research. So when you make mouse soup, it should as much as possible be sans frothy head.

    4. Re:Not the worst by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      True, you definitely want the aeration for a proper mouse mousse.

    5. Re:Not the worst by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      That's still more humane than what my pet cat does to any mouse it manages to catch.

    6. Re:Not the worst by gfxguy · · Score: 1

      ... and that's a lot more humane than what I did to my neighbors cat after what my neighbor's cat did to my guinea pig.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    7. Re:Not the worst by operagost · · Score: 1

      Plus it tastes better with the crackers (biscuits, for our UK readers).

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    8. Re:Not the worst by MikeUW · · Score: 1

      In the case of lab rats, 'euthanize' is usually just a euphemism for killing them by breaking their necks (having known someone who had this job in a lab once). I don't think that's the method of choice for humans whenever someone wants to be euthanized to end their own suffering. As AC says, the blender is probably less pain for the mouse.

      I wonder though, since only the abstract of the TFA is publicly accessible, how long the embryos actually survived after being given this chemical cocktail.

  5. HG Wells gets another one right? by kulervo · · Score: 1

    Is it me or is this the literal idea of the original HG Wells Invisible Man?

    1. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, it's from his earlier rejected manuscript, the "The Invisible Dead Man". Interesting premise but not a lot of action in that one.

    2. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by mmmmbeer · · Score: 2

      No, it was "The Invisible Mouse" by Edmund Wells.

    3. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by AlamedaStone · · Score: 1

      No, it was "The Invisible Mouse" by Edmund Wells.

      I thought that was by the well-known Dutch author, Charles Dickkens.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
    4. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by sevenfactorial · · Score: 1

      I agree; I just read the original recently. Of course the invisible man was an albino, so he was already pigmentless (or so the story goes) except for blood etc. These pigments he somehow replaced. A lot of the scientific explanation has to do with changing the refractive indices of his tissues to make them match those of air though. It seems the mouse still has some problems with refraction.

    5. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by Binestar · · Score: 1

      No, he's talking about Stickwick Stapers' by Miles Pikkens with four Ms and a silent Q

      --
      Do you Gentoo!?
    6. Re:HG Wells gets another one right? by AlamedaStone · · Score: 1

      Hm. I don't know that one, maybe I should try WH Smith's.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
  6. Dear God by EdIII · · Score: 1

    If the squirrels get a hold of this, there will be no stopping their agents now.

    Only a matter of time.

  7. WHY DIS HAPPEN :( by spazdor · · Score: 2

    I'm just gonna come out and say it.

    Science is horrible

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
  8. A mixture of urea, glycerol, and soap... by TBBle · · Score: 1

    Researchers serendipitously discovered that a mixture of urea, glycerol, and soap

    I'm guessing this discovery was the result of someone taking a shower after some kind of urine-related lab prank...

    --
    Paul "TBBle" Hampson
    Paul.Hampson@Pobox.Com
  9. But does it drive them insane? by overshoot · · Score: 1

    I seem to recall some prior art in this subject.

    --
    Lacking <sarcasm> tags, /. substitutes moderation as "Troll."
  10. Greatest obituary line ever... by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Eaten alive by invisible rats.

    Science is about making horrible dreams a reality.

    1. Re:Greatest obituary line ever... by gknoy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Science is about making horrible dreams a reality.

      Somewhere, someone just found a new signature. ;)

    2. Re:Greatest obituary line ever... by Sasayaki · · Score: 5, Funny

      Done and done.

      --
      Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
    3. Re:Greatest obituary line ever... by jovius · · Score: 1

      It's somewhat a mystery that we have not self destructed yet. I can't say if it's because we are not reasonable enough or that we are.

    4. Re:Greatest obituary line ever... by AioKits · · Score: 1

      Don't forget to attribute source. ;)

      --
      "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
    5. Re:Greatest obituary line ever... by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      Eaten alive by THREE-FOOT invisible Brooklyn-dwelling rats, seeking revenge for their fellow three-foot rat who got impaled on a pitchfork. (There. Corrected it for you.)

      This post makes me wonder what happened to the fourth foot. Was it lost because someone stepped on the foot, not being able to see it, and crushed the bones beyond healing?

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  11. Re:Looks like a creepy gummi bear by LurkerXXX · · Score: 2

    Wait, that's not a baby mouse, that's a baby Predator!

  12. Re:dubious science by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes it will. Controls will be treated as well. Furthermore, this isn't a live technique. You fix the embryo with paraformadehyde first probably. This is for looking at morphology of cells or tissues, not living function. You have one mouse line with a mutation that causes blindness, one without, you cross in a fluorescent marker that makes their optic nerves glow. You get the embryos, fix them, do this thing to them, then you can clearly see how it's affecting the nerve, for example. A lot less disruptive than the alternative of cutting it into slices.

  13. Doesn't seem that difficult... by pLnCrZy · · Score: 2

    Kevin Bacon did it 11 years ago. To a gorilla. And then himself.

  14. Re:Phew! by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mice aren't dumb enough to fall for that.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  15. First Stop... by lexsird · · Score: 1

    First stop, the girls' shower room for a "deposit", second stop, the bank for a "withdraw."

    --
    Take the Red Pill.
  16. Re:Not Usable for Living Beings by ThorGod · · Score: 1

    FTA: "Scale is too strong to use on a living animal"

    Yeah, I thought the same thing. It'd be kind of cool to see a transparent mouse. (If also disturbing.)

    --
    PS: I don't reply to ACs.
  17. Chemical Cocktails by devphaeton · · Score: 2

    I know a few chemical cocktails that can make people THINK they're invisible. And bulletproof.

    --


    do() || do_not(); // try();
  18. Bear Grylls Science by Khyber · · Score: 1

    Scientist #1: We're having problems observing these neurons! Blasted plain optics!

    Scientist #2: If only there were some way to make the mouse embryo transparent!

    Bear Grylls: Soak it in piss! *gulp*

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  19. Re:Not Usable for Living Beings by _KiTA_ · · Score: 1

    FTA: "Scale is too strong to use on a living animal"

    Yeah, I thought the same thing. It'd be kind of cool to see a transparent mouse. (If also disturbing.)

    To say nothing about what would happen if the next Lady Gaga got ahold of this stuff.

    Still, it's an interesting development. Wonder if they can replicate the effect with something more conductive to living tissue. I'm thinking Transparent Eyes, or tough wooden windows that are much less likely to be broken into. Or for the truly green out there, a solid wood computer monitor.

  20. What a novelty! by Genda · · Score: 2

    Makes one wonder if there is a less toxic way to attain the same effect? Definitely an ice breaker at parties! On the flip side, adding this concoction to embalming fluid would almost certainly make for exciting funerals!!!

  21. Re:H.G. Wells had it first by hedwards · · Score: 2

    Now if only we could develop some sort of device for changing history, we could go back and make sure he doesn't give us any ideas.

  22. Re:H.G. Wells had it first by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

    More like the ghouls in Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books.

  23. Does this only affect ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... the three-dimensional protrusion of the pan-dimensional, hyper-intelligent race of beings that we perceive as mice?

    And what wrath have these foolhardy researchers brought upon this planet should these beings become unhappy with their new appearance?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  24. Uhmmm...this isn't exactly new... by IonOtter · · Score: 1
    --
    [End Of Line]
    1. Re:Uhmmm...this isn't exactly new... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      True. It's also done to dead mice because the process is strong enough that it would kill living mice. Plus it was only done on fetuses which are small enough that the transparency is useful.

    2. Re:Uhmmm...this isn't exactly new... by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Yeah, not even close. The point here is the fetus is still alive and developing, so they can watch individual fluorescent-stained neurons grow. Pretty cool, really.

    3. Re:Uhmmm...this isn't exactly new... by IonOtter · · Score: 1

      Whoa, wait...what???

      The article says it's not being used on a living animal.

      Hmmm. Perhaps the difference here, is that the old method for clearing and staining didn't highlight the neurons, whereas this one did?

      --
      [End Of Line]
    4. Re:Uhmmm...this isn't exactly new... by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Whoops, I totally missed the last sentence for some reason and read "developing mice" as still developing. My mistake!

      I think you're right, the key was that it didn't affect the fluorescent dye. Still useful, but not earthshattering.

  25. Transparetnt.... by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 1

    But can they do this with aluminum??

    --
    Huh?
    1. Re:Transparetnt.... by davewoods · · Score: 1

      You get the "Star Trek: The One About Whales" vague reference award.

    2. Re:Transparetnt.... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Yes...but they call it 'Glass'

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  26. Invisible pr0n? by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

    Invisible pr0n is no fun... well, at least not for most people.

    --
    C|N>K
  27. Re:I wonder what it tastes like. by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    Or clear chicken.

  28. Are you ponderin' what I'm ponderin'? by Arancaytar · · Score: 5, Funny

    - That we turn ourselves invisible and take over the world?
    - EXACTLY

  29. Re:Why we have melanin or pigment in skin... by Jager+Dave · · Score: 1

    All the more reason for the mandatory aluminum foil hat :)

  30. Re:When Is It Cruel? by daid303 · · Score: 1

    As pointed out by Tim C, almost anything we do with mice is less cruel then what a cat does do a mouse when it catches it.

  31. When the animal is alive by voss · · Score: 1

    Notice they didnt do this on a living embryo.

    Also anything that sells for $1.49 each as live snake food at a pet store apparently does not rate too highly on the
    "concern about cruelty" scale. If the process caused them pain then yes it would be too cruel to use but
    simply turning them transparent is probably not the worst thing that would happen to a lab mouse.

    How does it feel to be a transparent animal? Ask a jellyfish. As long as they dont have to live
    with other regular mice I dont see they would notice the difference.

    1. Re:When the animal is alive by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      It wasn't really clear to me from the article (or the abstract of the paper it reported) whether the embryo was dead before they removed the pigment, or if removing the pigment killed it. If it was alive, the feeling of having all pigments removed would probably be one of the worst feelings to happen to a living animal, though I'm sure we could always do worse.

      There's a difference between the process of not generating pigments, determined by billions of years of one's own evolved DNA, and a bleaching in a lab.

      I don't think the cheapness of cruelty is a good way to determine whether the cruelty exacts a higher price from us than the price at the store.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

  32. Re:When Is It Cruel? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2

    No. Are you volunteering to never agree with anything because you don't agree with me in this specific instance? Of course not. The question is whether there is a limit of cruelty that's not worth what we get from the research that requires the cruelty.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  33. Re:When Is It Cruel? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    But we're not cats.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  34. Re:When Is It Cruel? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    That point is inside the limit. The limit is where we ask ourselves to stop, because our victim cannot.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  35. Re:Why we have melanin or pigment in skin... by Mindflux0 · · Score: 1

    It would also be blind and probably get cancer very easily among other things

  36. Once again by hackertourist · · Score: 1

    everybody's copying Apple, this time with translucent mice.

    1. Re:Once again by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Next up, scientist develop transparent mouse with 1 button.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  37. Re:Phew! by nschubach · · Score: 1

    They don't carry any money either.

    --
    Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
  38. Re:do they live? by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Please take 60 seconds and read the article. Please?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  39. Re:When Is It Cruel? by geekoid · · Score: 1

    No.

    More appropriately: Your question make no sense and show a lack of understanding about science. How do we know the outcome of an experiment? How can we say it wasn't worth any benefit without doing the experiment?

    Any more questions?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  40. Re:Not Usable for Living Beings by operagost · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't transparent eyes be blind?

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  41. Mice, clear by whitroth · · Score: 1

    Oh, you meant see-through. Here I thought you meant that they found a way to make mice Clear (tm) without paying Scientology tens of thousands of dollars....

                  mark

  42. Full development of transparent fetus by CommieLib · · Score: 1

    We have pigment for a reason, presumably, so a fully developed animal would not survive direct sunlight?

    Of course, a baby mouse would have fur, as well. Still, probably a really messed up looking mouse.

    --
    If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
  43. Meanwhile, ... by LeadSongDog · · Score: 1


    Micro$oft says they have finally found a way to render mouse pointers visible, to be implemented in time for the release of Windows 9.

    --
    Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale.
  44. I was worried for a second there by RexDevious · · Score: 1

    I thought they'd figured out a way to turn mice into Scientologists. As if mice weren't annoying enough as it is.

  45. Re:When Is It Cruel? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    My question makes no sense because it's your response applied to your post. So here are some less complex ones for you:

    Yes. Have you ever heard of ethics? They're an organized way to know whether an action's benefits might not be worth the cost, even without doing the action and incurring the cost.

    Also: what alternative science are you trying to use instead of the scientific method? Experiments aren't totally unpredictable invocations. There are almost always reliable expectations of the range of outcomes of the experiment.

    And: how have you avoided common sense? Both your posts in this thread show it's a stranger to you. Everyone who's at least moderately adult knows that some possible benefits are not worth some costs. Common sense also tells us that some costs, like the charge for unlimited cruelty, are the highest possible.

    Or just the simplest: is there any limit you recognize on cruelty to animals, regardless of the reasonable maximum benefit? Give an example to give some proportion to the estimated max benefit you postulate.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  46. Serendipity by sudonim2 · · Score: 1

    ...a mixture of urea, glycerol, and soap...

    How did they find this formula? Did one of the researchers piss in a bottle of liquid soap?