Harvard researchers have developed a noninvasive method to monitor and detect tissue repair in the brain of living organisms, using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles linked to a DNA sequence that binds to the proteins in cells responsible for brain tissue repair.

Current methods to detect brain repair involve a risky, invasive, and relatively slow process of penetrating the skull to extract tissue samples and examining them in a laboratory.

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology News Release