AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Finally, a little snack to get me through the morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRUNCHING)
RASCOE: You know I love Doritos. Truly, the breakfast of champions - but this, you know, orange dust on Doritos - it really gets around. (Laughter) Well, last week, it came out that the dye that helps give your fingers that orange tint is actually kind of useful.
LAUREN LEFFER: You basically just rub a mouse down with this well-known, food-safe dye, and its skin becomes essentially clear.
RASCOE: That's science journalist Lauren Leffer. The dye is best known as FD&C Yellow No. 5. Leffer wrote about it in Popular Science after spotting a study from Stanford University.
LEFFER: I came across a press release that showed this image of, like, a completely see-through mouse abdomen. And I saw it, and I was immediately drawn in, confused, alarmed.
RASCOE: OK, so let's break it down or maybe crunch it down. Basically, scientists figured out that if they lathered these bald mice with Yellow No. 5, their bellies went from wall to window. I mean, you could see everything - organs, blood vessels. You can even see them digesting. Why? - because when the dye is absorbed by the paper-thin skins of these mice, it changes how light hitting that skin is scattered. Yellow No. 5 happens to affect blue wavelengths in a way that allows for, quote, "optical transparency in the red region of the visible spectrum." Wash it off, and the skin's opaque again. One scientist told Leffer that the physics involved are - pun hopefully not intended - blindingly obvious. The implications?
GUOSONG HONG: Instead of the invasive biopsies, doctors might be able to diagnose deep-seated tumors by simply examining a person's tissue, which is transparent, without the need for an invasive surgical removal.
RASCOE: That's study co-author Guosong Hong. Mark Brongersma is also a co-author.
MARK BRONGERSMA: I think it will help smart chemists to design better molecules with even more impressive light-absorption properties.
RASCOE: But can anything really get better than Doritos for me? And maybe for some others - Mountain Dew, candy corn...
(SOUNDBITE OF SALIN'S "SI CHOMPHU") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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