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Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Imaging and Quantification of Intact Neuronal Dendrites via CLARITY Tissue Clearing
Published on: April 20, 2021
Clarifying Tissue Clearing
Douglas S Richardson1, Jeff W Lichtman2
1Harvard Center for Biological Imaging, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
Biological specimens are intrinsically three dimensional; however, because of the obscuring effects of light scatter, imaging deep into a tissue volume is problematic. Although efforts to eliminate the scatter by "clearing" the tissue have been ongoing for over a century, there have been a large number of recent innovations. This Review introduces the physical basis for light scatter in tissue, describes the mechanisms underlying various clearing techniques, and discusses several of the major advances in light microscopy for imaging cleared tissue.
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