New Embedding Method for Cell Suspensions

The electron microscopy of sections of isolated cells, such as tissue culture cells, white cells, or red blood cells, presents special problems in handling and orientation. When it is desired to retain the original relationship between cells, as, for example, tissue culture cells growing on a glass surface, it is necessary to process and embed the cells in situ (1, 2). One of the disadvantages of such a procedure is that a monolayer of cells is then presented at the block surface and it is difficult to achieve an adequate sampling from such a distribution of cells. This is a major disadvantage in the case of a virusinfected cell population where it is desirable to view a large number of cells. The alternate method commonly used is that of centrifugation of the cells into a pellet which is then treated like a block of tissue (3, 4). This