Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Staining
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Technique used to enhance visual contrast of specimens observed under a microscope}} {{other uses}} [[Image:Stained_microscope_slide.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A stained [[histological]] specimen, sandwiched between a glass [[microscope slide]].]] '''Staining''' is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the [[Microscope|microscopic]] level. [[Stain]]s and [[dye]]s are frequently used in [[histology]] (microscopic study of biological [[tissue (biology)|tissue]]s), in [[cytology]] (microscopic study of [[cell (biology)|cell]]s), and in the [[medical]] fields of [[histopathology]], [[hematology]], and [[cytopathology]] that focus on the study and [[diagnoses]] of [[disease]]s at the microscopic level. Stains may be used to define [[biological tissues]] (highlighting, for example, [[muscle fiber]]s or [[connective tissue]]), [[cell (biology)|cell]] populations (classifying different [[blood cell]]s), or [[organelle]]s within individual cells. In [[biochemistry]], it involves adding a class-specific ([[DNA]], [[protein]]s, [[lipid]]s, [[carbohydrate]]s) dye to a substrate to qualify or quantify the presence of a specific compound. Staining and [[fluorescent tag]]ging can serve similar purposes. Biological staining is also used to mark cells in [[flow cytometry]], and to flag [[protein]]s or [[nucleic acid]]s in [[gel electrophoresis]]. Light microscopes are used for viewing stained samples at high magnification, typically using bright-field or epi-fluorescence illumination. Staining is not limited to only biological materials, since it can also be used to study the structure of other materials; for example, the [[lamellar]] structures of [[semi-crystalline polymer]]s or the domain structures of [[block copolymer]]s.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)