Microbiology: A Systems Approach 4th Edition by Marjorie Kelly Cowan

Exercise 10

Critical thinking is the ability to reason and solve problems using facts and concepts. These questions can be approached from a number of angles and, in most cases, they do not have a single correct answer.
You are working in a laboratory and are told to prepare a blood sample for microscopic analysis. You prepare a small amount of concentrated blood cells and then suspend the cells in sterile water. When you view the slide, you see nothing but what appears to be fragments of cell membranes.
a. Using principles learned in this chapter, explain why you were not able to see actual red blood cells in your sample.
b. Discuss whether or not you would have been able to visualize bacterial cells prepared in this manner.