Definitions
Chemical fixation: Fixation of a biological sample with chemicals that cross-link proteins and other cellular macromolecules
Resin: A solution of chemicals that polymerize into a large polymer network thus embedding the biological sample
Introduction
An electron microscope is a hostile environment for living organism; the water evaporates in the vacuum, needed to increase the mean free path of electrons, and the sample is exposed to high energy electrons. Furthermore, for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the sample must be thin, 50–500 nm, to be transparent for electrons. To fulfill these requirements, the biological object has to undergo a preparation scheme: chemical fixation, dehydration, and resin embedding. Further, ultrathin sections need to be cut and stained with heavy metal salts before they can be investigated in the electron microscope. Though...
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© 2013 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)
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Humbel, B.M. (2013). Electron Microscopy: Classical Sample Preparation. In: Roberts, G.C.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16712-6_622
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16712-6_622
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-16711-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-16712-6
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