The study – “Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules – was published” – was published in the journal Science last week, found that “the addition of common dye molecules that absorb in the near ultraviolet and blue regions improve optical transparency in nearby longer wavelengths,” the authors said, documenting that “the addition of tartrazine was able to make the skin of a live rodent temporarily transparent.”
Christopher Rowlands, a senior lecturer and biophotonics researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement: “I instantly looked at it and went, ‘my god, this is revolutionary.’”
The abstract of the study says:
Optical imaging plays a central role in biology and medicine but is hindered by light scattering in live tissue. We report the counterintuitive observation that strongly absorbing molecules can achieve optical transparency in live animals.
We explored the physics behind this observation and found that when strongly absorbing molecules dissolve in water, they can modify the refractive index of the aqueous medium through the Kramers-Kronig relations to match that of high-index tissue components such as lipids.
We have demonstrated that our straightforward approach can reversibly render a live mouse body transparent to allow visualization of a wide range of deep-seated structures and activities. This work suggests that the search for high-performance optical clearing agents should focus on strongly absorbing molecules.
Even though this research was used to demonstrate that this compound could be used to help scientists see what’s going on within the body, the researchers are still a bit cautious about what the effects will be on people if too much Yellow 5 is applied.
Guosong Hong, co-senior study author and a bioengineer at Stanford University, told Popular Science, “We strongly discourage attempting this on human skin, as the toxicology of dye molecules in humans, particularly when applied topically, has not been fully evaluated.”
However, Hong did suggest that this research could lend itself to a future where this method leads to ‘early skin cancer detection, easing the process of routine blood draws for those with hard-to-spot veins, speeding up laser tattoo removal, or supercharging photothermal cancer treatments.’
Read the rest of the report here.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Popular Science wanted to try and present these findings in the beginning as “potentially non-toxic research method,” and yet we know that Yellow 5, among other popular food dyes, has a long list of documented health effects on the body. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) wrote in a report on food dyes this year:
Some children are sensitive to the effects of artificial colorings, according to a study by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, or OEHHA. Food dye may aggravate symptoms associated with behavioral difficulties, including inattentiveness, impaired memory and restlessness.
Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 or Yellow No. 6 – which account for 90 percent of food dyes used in the U.S. – are especially linked to those health effects. The EU requires any food products containing these three dyes to have a warning label that reads “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
The Food and Drug Administration does not require the same warning. And it does little to restrict the use of food dye in food. The agency has approved all of these food dyes for general use “consistent with good manufacturing practices,” so restrictions are vague and ineffective.
And so now we find out this chemical additive can turn your skin transparent under certain conditions. How on God’s green earth can that be healthy and seen as “non-toxic?”
Needless to say, avoid these chemicals and synthetics.
3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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