[The rise and fall of pathology techniques]

For the past 150 years the most constant factor in the pathologist's histopathological diagnostic work-up has been haematoxylin staining. This technique, in combination with later additional staining techniques, determined knowledge on a cellular level for a long time. The invention of the transmission electron microscope added an ultrastructural dimension, and for many decennia in the middle of the twentieth century this was an important diagnostic tool. Enzyme histochemistry and morphometry came next, but these techniques never really became important as they were largely overtaken by immunohistochemistry and molecular diagnostics. These, in their turn, will face competition from proteomics and other forms of genomics. It seems likely that the trusty light microscope will lose out to digital microscopy, which is developing rapidly and offers the possibility to make a diagnosis at a distance. Pathology will continue to be a specialty on the move.