Transparent kidney shows vascular and glomeruli details

This piece describes how German scientists have made kidney-sized organs transparent under a microscope.  They call their technique SHANEL. SHANEL stands for “Small-micelle-mediated Human orgAN Efficient clearing and Labeling,” It uses a new, small micelle — a detergent aggregate of surfactant molecules in a liquid colloid — that can permeate centimeters-thick mammalian organs and clear them. A key ingredient of it is the zwitterionic detergent known as CHAPS. CHAPS’ unusual chemistry contains a structure of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic faces, resulting in much smaller micelles that can permeate tissues more effectively than other detergents.”  MORE

Image Credit: Helmholtz Zentrum München / Ertürk lab