0ur course in Human Tissue Biology at I.U. covers features of the differentiated cells and tissues that make up the body. The main goal of the course is to better understand how structure and function are integrated in the molecules, cells, tissues, and organs of the body. A major theme of the lectures and the focus of the laboratory studies is the area of histology, the branch of biology that centers on the cells and tissues within an organism and which, as such, serves as the foundation for other aspects of anatomy and physiology. The histological treatment of various tissues and organs will often be supplemented in lecture with material more related to other aspects of the subject, such as recent work on the tissue’s development or discussions of the tissue’s structure or function that are medically important.

This Laboratory Guide for A464, Human Tissue Biology, is designed to be used with the book Junqueira’s Basic Histology, 12th edition, which contains most of the required reading and laboratory material to be studied in this course. Study resources and supplemental material are available from Electronic Reserve at the Life Sciences Library website located at: http://ereserves.indiana.edu/eres/coursepass.aspx?cid=7378  (the password is “tissue”). 

Each laboratory exercise in the Laboratory Guide is designed to occupy approximately two hours of study for thorough understanding of the material, although some exercises require more time than others. The guide for each lab session begins with a short list of objectives your efforts are supposed to achieve. Always read these objectives carefully and make sure you have completed each successfully before leaving the lab. Figures from Junqueira are referred to continuously in every lab session and therefore the exercises MUST be undertaken with a copy of Junqueira’s 12th edition in front of you along with the microscope. Please remember to bring that book along to class every day. Although the prepared student will come to class having read the material to be covered that day, you should also read the captions to the figures in Junqueira again while studying the slides and identifying the cells and other components listed in the Laboratory Guide. This will greatly improve your understanding of the tissue’s functions.

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