Human cheek cells

Materials

  • Glass microscope slides
  • Plastic cover slips
  • Paper towels or tissue
  • Methylene Blue solution (0.v% to 1% (mix approximately 1 part stock solution with 4 parts of water))
  • Plastic pipette or dropper
  • Sterile, individually packed cotton fiber swabs

Run across information on suppliers hither.

Methods

  1. Take a clean cotton swab and gently scrape the inside of your oral fissure.
  2. Smear the cotton fiber swab on the centre of the microscope slide for 2 to iii seconds.
  3. Add a drop of methylene blue solution and place a coverslip on top. Concentrated methylene blue is toxic if ingested. Wear gloves and practise NOT allow children to handle methylene blue solution or have access to the bottle of solution.
  4. Remove any excess solution by assuasive a paper towel to touch one side of the coverslip.
  5. Identify the slide on the microscope, with 4 x or 10 x objective in position and find a cell. Then view at higher magnification.

Human Cheek Cell Methylene blue stains negatively charged molecules in the cell, including DNA and RNA. This dye is toxic when ingested and information technology causes irritation when in contact with the skin and eyes.

The cells seen are squamous epithelial cells from the outer epithelial layer of the mouth. The small blue dots are bacteria from our teeth and mouth.