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Fixation and Sectioning

Fixation and Sectioning

Two basic types of preparation are used to visualize specimens with a light microscope: wet mounts and fixed specimens.
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Imaging Cleared Intact Biological Systems at a Cellular Level by 3DISCO

Imaging Cleared Intact Biological Systems at a Cellular Level by 3DISCO

Published on: July 7, 2014

A guidebook for DISCO tissue clearing.

Muge Molbay^1,2,3, Zeynep Ilgin Kolabas^1,2,4, Mihail Ivilinov Todorov^1,2,4

¹Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (iTERM), Helmholtz Center, Neuherberg, Munich, Germany.

Molecular Systems Biology

|March 26, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This review guides scientists through tissue clearing techniques, focusing on the robust DISCO clearing protocols. It offers practical solutions for common challenges in preparing transparent biological specimens for microscopy.

Keywords:

3D imaging DISCO labeling light sheet tissue clearing

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Imaging and Quantification of Intact Neuronal Dendrites via CLARITY Tissue Clearing

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Last Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Imaging Cleared Intact Biological Systems at a Cellular Level by 3DISCO

Imaging Cleared Intact Biological Systems at a Cellular Level by 3DISCO

Published on: July 7, 2014

Detection and Quantitation of Label-Retaining Cells in Mouse Incisors using a 3D Reconstruction Approach after Tissue Clearing

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Published on: June 10, 2022

Imaging and Quantification of Intact Neuronal Dendrites via CLARITY Tissue Clearing

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Published on: April 20, 2021

Area of Science:

Biological Sciences
Microscopy
Histology

Background:

Traditional histological analysis via mechanical sectioning is time-consuming and prone to information loss.
Tissue clearing methods enable visualization of intact biological specimens by rendering them transparent.
Laser scanning fluorescence microscopy is used to image cleared tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a comprehensive guide for implementing tissue clearing protocols from scratch.
To focus on the widely used and robust DISCO clearing protocols.
To offer practical solutions for common challenges encountered in tissue clearing.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on diverse tissue-clearing options.
Emphasis on the DISCO clearing protocol.
Survey of over 30 researchers to identify frequently encountered issues.

Main Results:

Identification of diverse tissue-clearing techniques and their applications.
Compilation of common pitfalls and proposed solutions for tissue clearing.
Detailed guidance on the practical implementation of DISCO clearing protocols.

Conclusions:

Tissue clearing, particularly DISCO protocols, offers a robust alternative to traditional histology.
This review provides a practical, hands-on guide for researchers new to tissue clearing.
Addressing common issues facilitates the successful application of tissue clearing techniques in biological research.