A research team led by Doctor Atsushi Miyawaki in RIKEN, one of Japan’s leading institutes for scientific research, has been developing ways to make the brain transparent since 2011. Their most recent method, called ScaleS, mixes urea with common sugar alcohol to minimalize tissue damage and to make it compatible with current techniques in high-resolution microscopy. Dr. Miyawaki notes that, “while Superman’s x-ray vision is only the stuff of comics, ScaleS is a real and practical way to see through brain.” This work is expected to make a significant contribution to on-going research regarding the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.