I have a "fresh" rat cadaver arriving in two weeks time for pharmacology classes and I would like to take this rare opportunity to dissect various tissues and process them for TEM.

However due to other commitments I cannot fully process the tissues from fixation all the way through to resin embedding straight away.

Would it be OK to fix the tissues in 2.5% buffered glutaraldehyde for say 1 hour, then transfer them into phosphate buffer and store at 4oC for a few months? Do you think good images would still be achieved? The overall aim is to create a catalogue of images showcasing different anatomical systems such as the respiratory system, the CNS, the digestive system etc. to use in teaching.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Kayleigh