Microwave Processing Techniques for Electron Microscopy: A Four-Hour Protocol

The use of microwave energy to reduce processing times during fixation for electron microscopy (EM) is well established in the literature (1 -5 ). The microwave protocol described in this chapter is based on the work of Giberson et al. (6 ,7 ) and differs from the microwave literature in that each step (fixation, dehydration, embedding, and resin polymerization) in specimen processing is done in the microwave. The time savings gained from this approach are considerable and the results, based on our experience and that of others (8 ,9 ), are equal or better than those achieved from routine processing protocols.