Scientists have discovered that a common food dye has a remarkable property – making the skin of live mice transparent, so that the organs underneath become visible.
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The dye – tartrazine, aka E102 – is a mostly harmless dye used to turn food yellow. In an article published in the journal Science last week, researchers describe how the dye's interaction with light allowed them to see through the skin of a live mouse and observe its organs. In another experiment, they made a thin slice of chicken breast temporarily transparent.
"We combined the yellow dye, which is a molecule that absorbs the most light, especially blue and ultraviolet light, with the skin, which is a scattering medium. Individually, these two things block most of the light from getting through them," said Zihao Ou, assistant professor in physics at the University of Texas at Dallas.
"But when we put them together, we were able to see into the mouse skin," Ou said. "For those who understand the basic physics behind this, it makes sense, but if you're not familiar with it, it looks like a magic trick."
