[Histonet] Getting rid of bubbles in a gelatinous slide mounting medium

[koellingr at comcast.net]

Have never used the following method for gelatin microscope slides but maybe it would work????  When pouring acrylamide gels or setting up a resin matrix column I would always de-gas the liquid in a vacuum set-up of some kind.  Placing a liquid in the vacuum not only gets rid of oxygen which can interfere with products being separated but also gets rid of small gas bubbles that can interfere with constant and continuous flow of what should be a homogenous gel.  Degas the gelatin and use it quickly and maybe put the slides themselves under vacuum.  At Smithsonian they should have all kinds of vacuum set-ups.  Interested if it works; I have no idea. 
Ray (Lake Forest Park, WA) 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Jorge A. Santiago-Blay via Histonet" <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> 
To: Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2015 1:34:39 PM 
Subject: [Histonet] Getting rid of bubbles in a gelatinous slide mounting        medium 

Hello Histonetters: 



I have several hundred temporary slide preparations of insects body parts 
mounted on aqueous gelatin. As we prepare to photograph, we have been told 
to completely cover the specimen with the gelatin mounting and place a cove 
slip on top. As we melt new gelatin to comply, the process is invariably 
creating annoying bubbles, regardless of how gently we heat the gelatin. 



If we stick to gelatin, can someone suggest a method to minimize bubbles 
other than manually removing them? 



Of we switch mounting medium remember, all specimens are temp. mounted i n 
the gelatin), what aqueous medium compatible with the aqueous gelatin would 
you recommend that does not (ideally) create bubbles (ideally cheap). 



If you have any suggestions, please feel free to email me directly: 



blayjorge at gmail.com 



Gratefully, 



Jorge 



P.S. Apologies for potentially duplicate emails. 


Jorge A. Santiago-Blay, PhD 
blaypublishers.com 

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