[Histonet] Honey as a fixative?

[Philip Oshel]

I would be very surprised if there is anything in honey that acts as 
a fixative. Remember that honey is evolved to be food for growing bee 
larvae, not exactly something compatible with fixation.
I do find it easy to believe that honey acts as a preservative, 
simply because its high sugar content makes honey a strong 
dehydrating agent. This will perserve tissue and prevent bacterial 
and fungal growth. It would be interesting to do a similar study on 
salt-preserved tissues. I suspect the results would be similar, 
although the morphology would be uglier in the salt-preseved tissue 
because salt's strong osmotic effects.

Phil

>Dear all
>   I saw an article in the Journal of Histotechnology on honey as a 
>fixative and was impressed by the innovative spirit of the authors.
>   It would be helpful to the whole histo community if more studies 
>are done on honey as a fixative.
>   The main question should be if the results are reproducible by 
>other investigators using honey from different areas. It would be 
>also interesting to know the component of honey that is responsible 
>for the fixation.
>   James Mubiru

-- 
Philip Oshel
Microscopy Facility Supervisor
Biology Department
Central Michigan University
024C Brooks Hall
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
voice: (989) 774-3576
dept. fax: (989) 774-3462