A tissue appears brittle and hard after clearing. What caused this?

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Multiple Choice

A tissue appears brittle and hard after clearing. What caused this?

Prolonged clearing makes tissue too dry and brittle. The clearing step replaces the dehydration solvent (like ethanol) with a clearing agent (such as xylene) and, in doing so, can extract lipids. If the tissue remains in the clearing agent too long, too much lipid and moisture are removed, causing shrinkage and a hard, brittle texture that cracks when sectioned. If clearing time is insufficient, residual alcohol remains and tissue won’t clear properly, leading to poor transparency and infiltration, not brittleness after clearing. Over-immersion in fixative would harden tissue earlier during fixation, not as a result of the clearing step. Inadequate dehydration before clearing would leave water in the tissue, hindering clearing rather than causing brittleness after clearing.

Prolonged clearing makes tissue too dry and brittle. The clearing step replaces the dehydration solvent (like ethanol) with a clearing agent (such as xylene) and, in doing so, can extract lipids. If the tissue remains in the clearing agent too long, too much lipid and moisture are removed, causing shrinkage and a hard, brittle texture that cracks when sectioned.

If clearing time is insufficient, residual alcohol remains and tissue won’t clear properly, leading to poor transparency and infiltration, not brittleness after clearing. Over-immersion in fixative would harden tissue earlier during fixation, not as a result of the clearing step. Inadequate dehydration before clearing would leave water in the tissue, hindering clearing rather than causing brittleness after clearing.

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