Sodium polyacrylate, the chemical used to cause enlargement of baby diapers when they absorb water or any other liquids, has been found helpful for a study that seeks to increase the sizes of brain cells for better imaging. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers were looking for a better way to enlarge brain cells to enable them take high resolution images when they accidentally stumbled across the relevance of sodium polyacrylate in diapers for their research.
Termed “expansion microscopy”, the new technique will allow for the effortless increase of tissue samples to sizes that allow for easy imaging. Unlike other scientific techniques, expansion microscopy is very simple and inexpensive; all the scientist need do is to embed samples of tissue into a polymer with a small quantity of water. The polymer will allow the specimen to swell and magnify for easy photo imaging.
Unlike other modern techniques, expansion microscopy is usable for probing brain structure. And Ed Boyden, the developer of the technique states that experiments with sodium polyacrylate in diapers gave them the lead to achieve classical super resolution methods for examining brain circuits. Taking high resolution images of brain cells is very difficult and expensive because it requires two dimension imaging – hence the experiments with baby diapers because of its ability to expand with water.
The main objective of the study is actually to recreate the functions of every neuron in the brain, and this area of research remains one of the most prominent in the field of science. And to this end, President Barrack Obama has been said to promise giving $100 million for brain related researches.
This study was published in the journal Science.