A short history of tissue fractionation.

Abstract

The period immediately following the end of World War II will be remembered in the history of cell biology as that of the great breakthrough . As with many scientific advances, new tools, not new thoughts, rendered possible the massive invasion of the subcellular world that was launched at that time . The availability of the electron microscope, and the development of procedures allowing the examination of biological samples with this instrument, made the cell accessible to detailed morphological exploration . At the same time, the introduction of chromatography, of radioisotopes, and of spectrophotometers and other refined physical instruments, enhanced enormously the power and incisiveness of biochemical analysis.