Hi, We're interested in reducing reagent consumption for microwave TEM processing of animal and plant tissues and have found few references to optimizing reagent volume in the literature. Experiments described are typically carried out in micro-centrifuge tubes or scintillation vials which contain between 2ml and 5ml of fixative, rinses, dehydrants and resins; and we'd like to use much less. Does anyone know of a predictable dependence between sample volume, microwave energy and/or microwave cycle time for successful processing? Has anyone successfully microwave processed small amounts of tissue in between 100 ul and 500 ul of reagent? Also, regarding lab microwave wattage settings (e.g. Biowave); does anyone know if the stated wattage is the microwave output or the wattage used by the magnetron? (i.e. For a 60 W light bulb, 60 W is a measure of the electrical power consumed and not a measure of the light that is produced. A more efficient light bulb, or a more efficient magnetron, would produce more light or more microwaves.) Thanks! Best regards, Tom Thomas E. Strader, MS-Biotech Heartland Biotech | Madison, WI, USA | 608-770-7649 | <http://www.heartlandbiotech.com/> www.heartlandbiotech.com _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet