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Can you imagine that delicious triangular tortilla chips could have a superpower? One of the ingredients found in Doritos chips can make skin transparent. Scientists at Stanford University recently claimed that a dye that helps give Doritos chips their orange color can make rat skin transparent.
The research, titled “Achieving optical transparency in living animals with absorbent molecules,” was published in the journal “Science” on September 5.
In a series of experiments reminiscent of science fiction, scientists at Stanford University applied a common food coloring called FD&C Yellow 5 to the abdomen, skull and hind limbs of unconscious mice. After five minutes, the mice’s skin temporarily turned into a living window, allowing scientists to view the structures underneath, including blood vessels and internal organs, with the naked eye.
The university scientists said these effects were not permanent. They said the mice’s skin returned to normal after the dye was washed off.
“The researchers believe this is the first non-invasive way to obtain visualization of a living rat’s internal organs,” the university said in a release.
“This is a major breakthrough,” Philip Keller, a biologist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, said, according to Nature.
“For those who understand the fundamental physics behind it, it makes sense; but if you’re not familiar with it, it seems like a magic trick,” said Jiahao Ou, lead author of the study.
“It’s important that the dye is biocompatible — that it’s safe for living organisms,” Ou said. “Also, it’s very inexpensive and efficient; we don’t need a lot of it to do the job.”
how it works
Explaining the science behind the rat’s transparent skin, the journal Nature said, “This technique works by changing the way body tissues, which are usually opaque, interact with light. The fluids, fats and proteins that make up tissues such as skin and muscle have low refractive indices, while lipids and proteins have high ones. Tissues appear opaque because the difference between these refractive indices causes light to scatter. Adding a dye that strongly absorbs light to such tissues could reduce the difference between the components’ refractive indices, making them transparent, the researchers said.”
The researchers plan to continue investigating this and experiment with other substances that may perform better than tartrazine.
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