Microscopy Stains

[Element 56]

I just wanted to share some articles I recently found on staining. There was a few threads recently asking about stains so they might be helpful to someone. All these links come from very good sites that most are already familiar with. However. the third site was new to me and it's really worth exploring.

Microscopy Stains You Can Make at Home
https://microscopetalk.wordpress.com/ti ... opy-stain/

Some Stains for Amateur Microscopy
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... tains.html

Staining Microscopic Specimens
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/micro ... 20organism.

Regards,
Kirby

[Sir]

Thank you for the great resource. I'm wondering if it's possible to stain a live specimen without killing it? I think it would be great to observe protists this way, if it is possible at all.

[BramHuntingNematodes]

Thank you for the great resource. I'm wondering if it's possible to stain a live specimen without killing it? I think it would be great to observe protists this way, if it is possible at all.

They are called "vital" stains and I believe they are much used in fluorescence microscopy. They are not as great as conventional dyes and difficult to differentiate but have the advantage of not immediately killing the subject.

[Sir]

They are called "vital" stains and I believe they are much used in fluorescence microscopy. They are not as great as conventional dyes and difficult to differentiate but have the advantage of not immediately killing the subject.

Thank you Bram, I'll have to look into this!

[Element 56]

Thank you for the great resource. I'm wondering if it's possible to stain a live specimen without killing it? I think it would be great to observe protists this way, if it is possible at all.

I'm very new to staining so I'm learning what I can and sharing when I find something I think is worthwhile. I did read something about staining with a type of fruit juice. I can't seem to recall which one but I'll see if I can find it tomorrow. It was a forum post so I left it out of my original post. I don't like to share if I am not sure the information has some validity. Of course we all no bad information gets published too! Food coloring was also mentioned in the thread.

I haven't read through the second one yet but it looked promising. The first is very interesting!

Natural Alternatives for Chemicals Used in Histopathology Lab- A Literature Review

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198341/

The Use of Plant Dyes for Microbial Staining and Identification: An Eco-friendly and Non-Toxic Alternative Method

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ive_Method

[Element 56]

Thank you for the great resource. I'm wondering if it's possible to stain a live specimen without killing it? I think it would be great to observe protists this way, if it is possible at all.

This is the thread I was referring to. Beat juice was the "stain" mentioned.
https://publiclab.org/questions/mimiss/ ... -or-stains

Kirby