What are the benefits of CLARITY over this technique that was published more tha
ID: 37142 • Letter: W
Question
What are the benefits of CLARITY over this technique that was published more than a year earlier?
Of course the second technique needs a fancier microscope that is likely more expensive and requires more technical ability. But CLARITY requires an objective with a very long working distance. I'm no expert in optics, but I'm pretty sure this results in a significant decrease in numerical aperture and therefore resolution.
It seems as though the other method is simply better than CLARITY, and that a lab serious about doing whole brain imaging could afford to invest in a setup similar to the one described. Yet this technique received none of hype that was bestowed on CLARITY. Am I missing something?
Explanation / Answer
To start with, CLARITY is a whole-brain imaging technique , there is no need for sectioning which destroys connections and can cause the brain slices to warp as they are being cut. The costs for setting up CLARITY are much lower because all that is needed is chemicals to get the prep ready for imaging whereas in the Nat Methods paper you have to set up an automated slicing and imaging system,not an easy task by any means. Therefore an investigator is more likely to use CLARITY due to its easy of setting up and low start up costs. Also, as with any brain slice technique , you lose patterns of connectivity among neurons that are more than the slice distance apart(i.e in the next slice) and you don't look at the "whole picture". Thus due to the complexity,high start-up costs and specialized machinery STP is a poorer method than CLARITY for whole-brain imaging.As for resolution, I agree with you on principle that CLARITY has worse resolution(I looked through the paper but couldn't find exact figures) although you have to consider this in terms of all the trade-offs.
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