We are currently in the process of collecting fetal tissue samples 
for both IHC and DNA extraction. We have decided to formalin fix and 
then paraffin embed the majority of our samples.
Our problem lies in the fact that we will not have access to tissue 
samples until late on a Friday afternoon and will not be able to have 
the tissues processed by the lab until Sunday evening/Monday morning 
at the earliest. The tissues are all from termination of pregnancy so 
are likely to be a little "fragile" and we are concerned about 
storage in formalin over the weekend.
Would it be best to leave the tissue in 10% formalin for the weekend, 
or should we fix for 24 hours and then transfer them to 70% ethanol?
It has also been suggested to us that we should fix and then 
microwave the samples on a Friday night. If we do this, how should we 
preserve the tissue over the weekend?
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Kylie Drake
PhD student
University of Otago, New Zealand.