In The Making of a Histology Tissue Worksheet Section A: Introduction to Histology, we learned about three main sections that represent the different tools needed for histology. These three main sections are the specimen culture, the tissue culture, and the electrophoresis. This section will help you understand how to use each tool correctly. It is important to understand how to use each of these tools to get an accurate picture of your specimen.
The tissue culture is probably the most widely used tool in modern day histology laboratories. In a tissue culture, the single species of bacteria is introduced into a culture medium. It is important to note that the culture medium is not wet. This medium is a gelatin solution. Gelatin is used in the cultures to facilitate colonization of the bacteria. To keep the culture moist, a moistening medium can be added to the culture.
The whole process from the time the bacteria are introduced into the culture until they completely colonize the medium is called incubation. During incubation, the culture medium should remain moist. The thickness of the media and the amount of time it needs to incubate vary from one species of bacteria to another. Depending on the medium, the bacteria may die, grow, or settle down in a specific area.
Electrophoresis is used for a variety of purposes. It can be used to analyze cells, but it can also be used to observe protein fibrils, which are essentially little fibers that contain large amounts of cell wall. Protein fibrils can also be used to determine whether an organism has been exposed to antibiotics. Most proteolytic enzymes are activated by antibiotics. The cellular processes that are induced by antibiotics are recorded on the electrophoresis plates.
Electrophoresiscan also be used to measure membrane permeability. The permeability of a membrane is measured by the amount of free electrons or ions in the membrane at time intervals. Some membranes have higher permeability than others. If a membrane is permeable, it will allow ions or electrons to flow through it.
In addition to culture, tissue culture is used to determine if an organism is viable or nonviable. Any viable tissue culture must be immersed in a nonpermeable medium. The culture can then be washed and tested to see if it has a viable state.
Electrophoresis is also used to create a gel. An electrostatic charge can be applied to the medium. This can be done with, for example, a citrate buffer. The electrical charge on the media will cause the cell to open its wall and release its contents.
If you are interested in learning more about tissue culture, electrophoresis, and how to make a worksheet for using each technique, I highly recommend that you read through section A of the Tissue Worksheet to get a full overview of the different tools you will need to obtain your histology experiments completed. Thank you for reading my article.
