ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the principal microscopy methods used to study cells. Animal cells are not only tiny, but they are also colorless and translucent. A colored image of the cell is thereby obtained that is visible in the normal bright-field light microscope. Because cells are small and complex, it is hard to see their structure, hard to discover their molecular composition, and harder still to find out how their various components function. Thus, most cells in their natural state, even if fixed and sectioned, are almost invisible in an ordinary light microscope. The fluorescent dyes used for staining cells are visualized with a fluorescence microscope. Fluorescence microscopy is most often used to detect specific proteins or other molecules in cells and tissues. Various techniques have been developed to make specific components of living cells visible in the microscope.
