Anyone know how to stop sections from flying off as you try to pick them up with a slide? I am sure it's a charge issue but I can not figure out how to stop it.

emicasas said:

Anyone know how to stop sections from flying off as you try to pick them up with a slide? I am sure it's a charge issue but I can not figure out how to stop it.

Have you tried to use positively charged slides? They might work for your case and are available by some companies.

I don't know whether you've resolved your problem by now, but I have a suggestion or two, though you may already have tried these. (My assumption is that you're holding the slide over the tissue section and melting the slice onto the slide.)

What I always did was keep a small paintbrush in the cooling chamber and physically lift the section up with the paint brush and place it on the slide. (Make sure to have the correct side of the section facing up!) That way it has very little opportunity to wander. You might also try freezing the slide before doing this, and then placing the slide on the warm window on top of the cooling chamber to melt the section onto the slide. (Alternately you can warm the slide by holding your thumb against the back if it.) Finally, if a section folds or somehow melts in the wrong position on the slide, you might have luck placing a drop of PBS (or some other harmless buffer) right on the section, which can then be GENTLY repositioned with a really small paintbrush.

I hope this helps!

Soudabeh said:

emicasas said: Anyone know how to stop sections from flying off as you try to pick them up with a slide? I am sure it's a charge issue but I can not figure out how to stop it. Have you tried to use positively charged slides? They might work for your case and are available by some companies.

It's generally a static problem. Change your gloves, don't mess with the slides before using them, don't fiddle with your hair or polyesther jumpers. Static transfers to hands and then sends sections flying.
there is also debate as to weather conditions, I am not convinced by this one!
If you blast around a bit of cryo-spray then it sometimes helps.