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Hi Mike,

your cheek cells. Toothpick is preferable to fingernail.
Best if the microscope has phase contrast (don't need to give the 3 hour 
Zernike lecture on how it works).

If you have fluorescence capability, DAPI or Proflavine. Rebecca 
Richard-Kortum (www.rice360.org) has place a drop of (dilute) proflavine 
on her tongue and then imaged with a portable endoscope. See PubMed search:
Richards-Kortum r proflavine
for various papers on this - example,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20585636

Tip: to explain fluorescence, bring a UV black light and bottle of tonic 
water - and a glass to drink it from.
Web sites include
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonic_water   ... good picture of Canada 
Dry tonic water.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/quinine-tonic-water-gin_n_5982994.html

enjoy,

George
p.s. let me know what happens if you stain cheek cells with tonic water 
-- might (or not) lysosomes.


On 6/29/2015 11:22 AM, MODEL, MICHAEL wrote:
> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear All,
>
> We are planning to introduce some microscopy into schools. We would need a source of cells that would be:
> (1) without cell walls (not from an onion)
> (2) easy to obtain or maintain
> (3) would stick to glass
> (4) not too big and not too small (if amoebas are ~0.5 mm that would be too big, red blood cells are probably too small and don't stick to glass)
> (5) be alive (cheek cells come out mostly dead, at least from my mouth....)
>
> Maybe C elegans? Or crush some kind of worm and get something out of it? Any ideas? Thank you!
>
> Mike
>
>    


-- 



George McNamara, Ph.D.
Single Cells Analyst
L.J.N. Cooper Lab
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX 77054
Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42