“The technique, called expansion microscopy, involves physically inflating biological tissues using a material more commonly found in baby nappies (diapers)… Boyden and many other neuroscientists would like to glean molecular details such as the location of proteins at neural synapses — the junctions at which two neurons communicate — within a group of neurons or even across an entire brain. "What we’ve been trying to do is figure out if we can make everything bigger," Boyden told the meeting at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. To manage this, his team used a chemical called acrylate that has two useful properties: it can form a dense mesh that holds proteins in place, and it swells in the presence of water. Acrylate, a type of salt also known as waterlock, is the substance that gives nappies their sponginess. When inflated, Boyden's tissues grow about 4.5 times in each dimension.”

I love that – “we wanted to make everything bigger” – that makes me so happy

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