The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
The Giemsa stain, named after G. Giemsa (1867-1948), is a mixture of two dyes, methylene blue and eosin. Prior to 1960, when Moorehead and Nowell described their use of Giemsa in their chromosome preparations, acetoorcein, acetocarmine, gentian violet, hemotoxylin, Leishman's, Wright's and Feulgen stains were used to stain chromosomes.
The Giemsa stain is one of the larger group of Romanowsky stains. The group, which includes the Leishmann, Wright and May-Grünwald stains, give characteristic staining patterns. Specifically, the Giemsa stain produces light and dark bands in chromosomes. Each homologous chromosome pair has a unique pattern of Giemsa-banding, enabling recognition or particular chromosomes. It is the most popular stain for distinguishing different types of white blood cells and for detecting parasitic microorganisms in blood smears. The typical organisms detected include Plasmodium (the causative agent of malaria) and Babesia (a protozoan that causes a malaria-like illness and hemolytic anemia). In recent years, the staining technique has also been adapted for use with the gastrointestinal bacterium Helicobacter pylori and crop plants such as barley.
Typically the stain is applied to dry smears of sample that have been applied to a microscope slide. Staining of thin sections of samples embedded in plastic has also been successful. Detection of the chromosome banding patterns relies upon light microscopy.