Leica rotary microtome

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Light microscopy is an essential tool for cell biology.  Our ability to make serial sections of specimens is a key technique in the study of an organism.  Improvements in the plastics used for specimen embedding  together with improvements in the microtome, such as the feature allowing for retraction during the return stroke, enables us to serially section plastic blocks.  These improvements greatly enhance the quality of histological studies.  This RTI grant application is to support my current Discovery Grant from NSERC.   The Reichert rotary microtome in my laboratory is approximately 25 years old. The manufacturer of this model, Reichert Jung is no longer in business.  Due to heavy use of this microtome, the drive shaft has already been replaced once 6 years ago.  Lately, the retraction of the cutting arm prior to specimen advancement has become erratic.  Serial sections cannot be obtained consistently. The inability to obtain serial sections makes interpretation difficult and also increases the time needed to section through a single block at 3 µm thickness.  This greatly reduces our productivity. Thus, in order to continue our structural studies, this application has to be made.From a teaching perspective, in recent years, fewer and fewer students are being trained in anatomical research.  This area of research is perceived to be old-fashioned.  On the contrary, rapid changes are taking place in different areas of microscopy and the need for assistance by microscopists continues to increase.  Through the use of different experimental systems and our experience, we continue to train high quality personnel in this area of research, but we need the tools in order to accomplish our goal.