12. Histological Techniques

With the advent of the powerful techniques of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence microscopy, it is increasingly important that developmental biologists be trained in the art of tissue preparation.

In this chapter, students learn the techniques for making serial sections of paraffin embedded specimens.

Each step of the process is explained in detail to give an understanding of the reasons behind each of these steps.

Individual sections include:

Fixation
Washing
Dehydration and clearing
Microwaving techniques
Paraffin embedding
Mounting and trimming blocks
Sectioning
Mounting sections
Staining
Mounting coverslips