Essentially, Histogel is for any situation in which you have very 
     tiny, fragmented, crumbly, goopy, or otherwise hard-to-handle samples. 
     You embed the bits in Histogel and let it harden prior to processing. 
     It also makes it easier to find them after processing and to orient 
     them in the mold. We use it mostly for cells suspended in a very loose 
     collagen gel. These samples contain so much water that they 
     practically disappear after processing, but the Histogel makes it 
     possible to process and embed them.
        I think that some people also use it to spin down cells into a 
     Histogel pellet. Anyone care to revisit that?
     
     Jeffrey Crews, HTL (ASCP)
     Organogenesis, Inc. 


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Histogel Question  
Author:  "P. Emry" <emry@u.washington.edu> at internet
Date:    05/16/2000 11:38 AM


Forgive me, I can't remember what it is used for, but remember being 
interested a few monthw ago.  Can I get some basics?
Trisha
     
On Tue, 16 May 2000, Jeff Crews wrote:
     
>      I haven't had any problem just using a beaker of water on a hot plate. 
>      Put the vial in and monitor it until it liquifies. Then take the 
>      beaker off the heat and leave the vial in the water as you use it (so 
>      it stays liquid). Works for me.
>      
>      Jeffrey Crews, HTL (ASCP)
>      Organogenesis, Inc.
> 
> 
> ______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________ > Subject: Histogel Question 
> Author:  Victor Tobias <vtobias@u.washington.edu> at internet 
> Date:    05/15/2000 10:02 AM
> 
> 
> I just received our sample of Histogel. Does anyone have any tips on 
> using it without Richard Allan's heating and cooling block? Procedure 
> should be user friendly for path residents. Thanks
>      
> Victor Tobias
> Histology Supervisor
> University of Washington Medical Center 
> Seattle, WA
>      
>      
>      
> 
> 
> 
     
Trisha