Biological Electron Microscopy: Theory, Techniques, and Troubleshooting

✍ Scribed by Michael J. Dykstra, Laura E. Reuss (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 536
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Electron microscopy is frequently portrayed as a discipline that stands alone, separated from molecular biology, light microscopy, physiology, and biochemistry, among other disciplines. It is also presented as a technically demanding discipline operating largely in the sphere of "black boxes" and governed by many absolute laws of procedure. At the introductory level, this portrayal does the discipline and the student a disservice. The instrumentation we use is complex, but ultimately understandable and, more importantly, repairable. The procedures we employ for preparing tissues and cells are not totally understood, but enough information is available to allow investigators to make reasonable choices concerning the best techniques to apply to their parti­ cular problems. There are countless specialized techniques in the field of electron and light microscopy that require the acquisition of specialized knowledge, particularly for interpretation of results (electron tomography and energy dispersive spectroscopy immediately come to mind), but most laboratories possessing the equipment to effect these approaches have specialists to help the casual user. The advent of computer operated electron microscopes has also broadened access to these instruments, allowing users with little technical knowledge about electron microscope design to quickly become operators. This has been a welcome advance, because earlier instru­ ments required a level of knowledge about electron optics and vacuum systems to produce optimal photographs and to avoid "crashing" the instruments that typically made it difficult for beginners.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Specimen Preparation for Electron Microscopy....Pages 1-73
Techniques....Pages 74-123
Cryotechniques....Pages 125-149
Techniques....Pages 150-152
Ultramicrotomy....Pages 153-158
Techniques....Pages 159-174
Staining Methods for Semithins and Ultrathins....Pages 175-189
Techniques....Pages 190-196
Cytochemistry....Pages 197-208
Techniques....Pages 209-217
Immunocytochemistry....Pages 219-231
Techniques....Pages 232-239
Support Films....Pages 241-244
Techniques....Pages 245-258
Replicas, Shadowing, and Negative Staining....Pages 259-270
Techniques....Pages 271-285
Transmission Electron Microscopy....Pages 287-322
Vacuum Systems....Pages 323-337
High-Voltage Transmission Electron Microscopes (HVEM)....Pages 339-345
Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopes (IVEM), Electron Tomography, and Single-Particle Electron Microscopy....Pages 347-355
Scanning Electron Microscopy....Pages 357-383
Techniques....Pages 384-393
Microanalysis....Pages 395-403
Photography....Pages 405-425
Techniques....Pages 426-438
Digital Imaging and Telemedicine....Pages 439-449
Morphometry and Stereology....Pages 451-458
Photomicroscopy....Pages 459-479
Techniques....Pages 480-487
Laboratory Safety....Pages 489-489
General Sources for Information Concerning Microscopy....Pages 491-492
Electron Microscopy Equipment and Supplies....Pages 493-498
Back Matter....Pages 499-534

✦ Subjects

Biological Microscopy; Life Sciences, general; Veterinary Medicine; Microbiology