How see-through brains could transform neuroscience (Big Ideas in Neuroscience) | Guosong Hong

What if we could make the brain see-through?
It sounds like science fiction, but it could revolutionize how we study the brain.
Today on the show, we're talking with Guosong Hong (neuroscience.stanford.edu/people/guosong-hong), a faculty scholar here at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute who has a unique reputation for developing creative techniques that literally shed light on the brain—from using fluorescent nanomaterials and focused ultrasound to create a virtual flashlight inside the skull (neuroscience.stanford.edu/mbct/news/engineers-…), to discovering a common food dye that temporarily makes skin, muscle, and even parts of the brain transparent (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/researchers-mak…).
Now, Guosong and colleagues are taking this work to the next level through a Wu Tsai Neuro Big Ideas grant (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/big-ideas-neuro…), genetically engineering mice to have see-through brains from birth (neuroscience.stanford.edu/our-science/funded-p…).
Learn More
• Q&A: 'To see is to believe' (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/qa-see-believe) (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2026)
• Big Ideas in Neuroscience tackle brain science of everyday life and more (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/big-ideas-neuro…) (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2026)
• Researchers turn mouse scalp transparent to image brain development (news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/08/mouse-scalp-…)(Stanford Report, 2026)
• The future of transparent tissue (engineering.stanford.edu/news/future-transpare…) (Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything Podcast, 2025)
• Non-invasive brain stimulation opens new ways to study and treat the brain (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/non-invasive-br…) (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2025)
• Researchers make mouse skin transparent using a common food dye (news.stanford.edu/stories/2024/09/using-a-comm…) (Stanford Report, 2024)
Note: Episode transcript will be uploaded within 24-48 hours of publication
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