Subject(s)
Biopsy, Fine-Needle/methods , Lymphoproliferative Disorders/diagnosis , Trypanosomiasis/diagnosis , Azure Stains/history , Biopsy, Fine-Needle/history , Biopsy, Fine-Needle/instrumentation , Eosine Yellowish-(YS)/history , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Lymph Nodes/pathology , Lymph Nodes/surgery , Lymphoproliferative Disorders/history , Lymphoproliferative Disorders/pathology , Lymphoproliferative Disorders/surgery , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Trypanosomiasis/history , Trypanosomiasis/pathology , Trypanosomiasis/surgeryABSTRACT
I give an historical account and analysis of the scientific priority of the discovery of the polychrome staining of microscopic biological preparations provided by mixtures of eosin plus methylene blue and its derivatives, especially azure B. I maintain that both the formal priority for the discovery of the polychrome staining phenomenon and credit for initiating the development of a technique of polychrome staining properly belong to D. L. Romanowsky. His scientific work demonstrated the possibility of using a simple technique to stain hematological preparations selectively to give good contrast, high resolution and the ability to identify malaria parasites. Romanowsky's approach constituted the starting point for the development of a family of polychrome stains for microscopic investigation of hematological preparations by a number of his contemporaries.
Subject(s)
Azure Stains/history , Eosine Yellowish-(YS)/chemistry , Methylene Blue/chemistry , Staining and Labeling/history , Staining and Labeling/methods , Coloring Agents/chemistry , Eosine Yellowish-(YS)/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , Malaria/diagnosis , Malaria/parasitology , Plasmodium/cytologyABSTRACT
Abstract Wright-Giemsa staining is a common procedure that is performed routinely in hematology laboratories. Consistency in intra-laboratory staining quality is essential for accurate morphological interpretation of blood smears. Although the Wright-Giemsa stain can be challenging to perform, the methods illustrated here have provided consistent, high quality stains in the Special Hematology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota for over half a century. We outline methods for collecting blood specimens, preparing the slides and performing a Wright-Giemsa stain using our combination of reagents. Various techniques that have been passed down in our laboratory for troubleshooting suboptimally stained specimens are shared as well.
Subject(s)
Azure Stains , Blood Cells/cytology , Staining and Labeling/methods , Azure Stains/history , Hematology/history , Hematology/methods , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Microscopy/methods , Staining and Labeling/historyABSTRACT
If the entire discipline of diagnostic cytopathology could be distilled into a single theme, it would be the Papanicolaou stain. Yet it was the Romanowsky stain upon which the discipline of cytopathology was founded. Both stains are used today in the cytopathology laboratory, each for a different and complementary purpose. We trace the history of cytopathological stains and discuss the advantages and limitations of Romanowsky-type stains for cytological evaluation. We also provide suggestions for the advantageous use of Romanowsky-type stains in cytopathology.
Subject(s)
Azure Stains , Coloring Agents , Cytodiagnosis/methods , Azure Stains/chemistry , Azure Stains/history , Cell Biology , Coloring Agents/chemistry , Coloring Agents/history , Cytodiagnosis/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Microscopy/methods , Staining and LabelingABSTRACT
In just half a century since the human diploid chromosome number was correctly identified as 46, there has been a rapid expansion in our understanding of both the genetic foundation of normal human development and the development of various constitutional and acquired abnormalities. The ability to detect numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities was made possible by the Giemsa stain. Despite the recent advent of powerful molecular-based cytogenetic techniques (e.g., fluorescence in situ hybridization, array-based comparative genomic hybridization), Giemsa-based chromosomal banding and staining techniques retain their crucial role in cytogenetics.
Subject(s)
Azure Stains , Cytogenetics/history , Cytogenetics/methods , Azure Stains/history , Chromosome Banding , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Karyotyping , Microscopy/methodsABSTRACT
Advances in the field of genomics have recently enabled the unprecedented characterization of the cancer genome, providing novel insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying malignancies in humans. The application of high-resolution microarray platforms to the study of medulloblastoma has revealed new oncogenes and tumor suppressors and has implicated changes in DNA copy number, gene expression, and methylation state in its etiology. Additionally, the integration of medulloblastoma genomics with patient clinical data has confirmed molecular markers of prognostic significance and highlighted the potential utility of molecular disease stratification. The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies promises to greatly transform our understanding of medulloblastoma pathogenesis in the next few years, permitting comprehensive analyses of all aspects of the genome and increasing the likelihood that genomic medicine will become part of the routine diagnosis and treatment of medulloblastoma.
Subject(s)
Azure Stains , Brain Neoplasms/diagnosis , Brain Neoplasms/genetics , Chromosome Banding/methods , Genomics/methods , Medulloblastoma/diagnosis , Medulloblastoma/genetics , Azure Stains/history , Biomarkers, Tumor , Chromosome Banding/history , Cytogenetic Analysis , Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics , Genetic Testing/methods , Genome, Human/genetics , Genomics/history , Genomics/trends , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Karyotyping/methods , MicroRNAs/genetics , Mutation/genetics , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods , Oncogenes/genetics , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length/genetics , Sequence Analysis, DNA/methodsABSTRACT
Gustav Giemsa was born in Germany in 1867, worked mainly as a chemist, and died in 1948. The staining method, which carries his name, was designed primarily for the demonstration of parasites in malaria, but it was also employed in histology because of the high-quality staining of the chromatin and the nuclear membrane, the metachromasia of some cellular components, and the different qualities of cytoplasmic staining depending on the cell type. The use of methylene azure and its mixture with methylene blue to form an eosinate made stable the stain and its results. Giemsa's stain is regarded as the world's standard diagnostic technique for malaria's plasmodium, and it is also the basic stain for classifying lymphomas in the Kiel classification.
