Microscopic Techniques in Biotechnology

For years, microscopy has proven to be an invaluable tool for all fields of biological and medical research. But not only at the level of a laboratory experiment, also after scale up, in all fields of biotechnological processes the microscope is a routine tool for the biologists, the engineer of the technician. Analysis of a visual image of a cell or cellular constituent, a biofilm or a tissue sample allows - at one instance - exploration of a variety of important features such as total quantity of the objects, cell volume and volume of compartments, presence of contaminants, or infective agents and status of the cell cycle. Numerous straightforward and standardized techniques detect and identify cellular organelles, specific nucleotide sequences, proteins, polymers and products of low molecular weight. In introducing sections of this book, the practicizing biotechnologist, who may not necessarily be trained in biology, will find illustrative examples for the possibilities of a certain microscopic technique. At the same time, he is introduced into the structural features of a biological specimen, a subcellular compartment, a cellular tissue or a biofilm, as exemplified by a certain preparation and imaging technique. In a respective methods section, the user is introduced into instrumentation and will find a selection of straightforward preparation techniques, including short general descriptions and step-by-step protocols. This presentation allows a quick start of the user for his own experiment.Mayer, Frank is the author of 'Microscopic Techniques in Biotechnology' with ISBN 9783527301980 and ISBN 3527301984.