Doritos Dye Can Make Mouse Skin Transparent

This could be a big breakthrough for medical practitioners who are looking for unconventional methods to advance their field of study. Recently, scientists have found one of the ingredients in triangle-shaped tasty tortilla chips that can make the skin of mice transparent.

Researchers at Stanford University detail, in the 6 September issue of the journal Science, how they were able to see through the skin of live mice by applying a mixture of water and tartrazine, a bright yellow-orange food coloring used in Doritos and other foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

The experiments arose from the quest for better methods to see tissue and organs within the body. The researchers chose tartrazine because the dye's molecules absorb blue and ultraviolet light, which makes it easier for light to pass through the mouse skin.

"For those who understand the fundamental physics behind this, it makes sense; but if you aren’t familiar with it, it looks like a magic trick," said Zihao Ou, the lead author of the study who is now an assistant professor of physics at The University of Texas at Dallas, in a description of the research on the university's website.

After testing the dye on mice tissue samples and raw chicken breast, the researchers rubbed the dye and water solution onto the skulls and abdomens of the mice. As the dye was absorbed, within a few minutes they could see "the skin, muscle, and connective tissues transparent in live rodents," the researchers write in the journal article.

Once researchers wash off the dye, the mice lost their translucency and the dye is excreted through urine, according to the university site's description of the study.

"It’s important that the dye is biocompatible – it’s safe for living organisms," Ou said. "In addition, it’s very inexpensive and efficient; we don’t need very much of it to work."

It might not work on humans though because our skin is about 10 times thicker than a mouse and it's not sure how much of the dye – or how it would be administered – is needed to work in humans, Ou said.