Superabsorbent Polymer Found in Baby Diapers May Enlarge Brain Cells (VIDEO)

Understanding the human brain is crucial for better understanding how we perform and act in our daily lives. Part of understanding the brain, though, is understanding the cells within it. Now, scientists have taken a novel approach to gaining high-resolution images of cells by enlarging tissue samples by embedding them in a polymer that swells when water is added.

The new technique actually uses commercially available chemicals and microscopes. Essentially, the researchers make the sample bigger instead of using a new, more powerful microscope to take the image.

Most microscopes work by using lenses to focus light emitted from a sample into a magnified image. However, this approach has a fundamental limit known as the diffraction limit. This means that it can't be used to visualize objects much smaller than the wavelength of light being used. For example, if you're using a blue-green light with a wavelength of 500 nanometers, you can't see anything smaller than 250 nanometers.

In this case, though, the researchers rely on making the sample bigger. The expandable polymer gel is made of polyacrylate, which is a very absorbent material that can commonly be found in diapers. The researchers first label the cell components that they want to examine, using an antibody that binds to the chosen targets. Once the tissue is labeled, the scientists add the precursor to the polyacrylate gel and heat it to form the gel. They then digest the proteins that hold the specimen together, allowing it to expand uniformly.

"What you're left with is a three-dimensional, fluorescent cast of the original material," said Paul Tillberg, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The other methods currently have better resolution, but are harder to use, or slower. The benefits of our method are the ease of use and, more importantly, compatibility with large volumes, which is challenging with existing technologies."

The findings represent a new way to image cells. This, in turn, may allow scientists to better understand biological processes, which may be huge in the future.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.

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