The “Invisible” Mouse - Creation Moments

Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

It looks like H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man has just come closer to becoming a reality. A group of Caltech researchers recently announced they have succeeded in making a mouse transparent. The researchers said that their new scientific technique – called Perfusion-assisted Agent Release in Situ, or PARS for short – will help scientists study organs and tissues in the lab, and could even help diagnose illnesses in humans.

A comparison of optical transparency of mouse brains and major organs before and after PARS clearing So how did they pull this off? They did it by pumping a detergent through the dead mouse’s tissues to remove the fat cells. Sure enough, this made the mouse transparent. However, it also caused the mouse to quickly decompose. To solve this problem, the researchers replaced the fatty lipids with a transparent gel to maintain the mouse’s body structure. By pumping this cocktail of detergent and gel through the mouse’s circulatory system, they were able to make the mouse’s body transparent and ready for research.

According to The Washington Post, labs have already begun using the lipid-clearing technique on tissue from human biopsies. Using the technique for finding cancerous cells, said one researcher, is a no-brainer.

Truly, we live in an age when it seems as if science can solve any problem. But there’s one big problem that science will never be able to solve – the problem of sin and death. Only Jesus can take a person’s sin-stained heart and turn it white as snow. Only Jesus can make our sins vanish from God’s sight!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am thankful to live at a time when medical advances are improving the quality of human life. But in the end, everyone dies, so I thank You most of all for eternal life through Jesus Christ, my Lord! Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: “Why a see-through mouse is a big deal for scientists”, The Washington Post, R. Feltman, 7-31-14. “Single-Cell Phenotyping within Transparent Intact Tissue through Whole-Body Clearing,” Cell, 5-6-14. Photo: A comparison of optical transparency of mouse brains and major organs before and after PARS clearing. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Used for educational purposes under U.S. fair use doctrine.