Fish On Sperm, Spermatocytes And Oocytes

It is well known that chromosome in situ hybridization allows the unequivocal identification of targeted human somatic chromosomes. Different fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques have been developed throughout the years, and following the mitotic studies, meiotic analyses have been performed using these different techniques. The application of FISH protocols on meiotic cells requires adaptation of standard protocols to the particularities of these cells. Specific sample fixation is usually required, and in some cases samples need to go through particular pretreatments to guarantee a successful FISH. The application of FISH to meiotic cytogenetic research has proved very useful and has provided us with significant information about many of the processes that take place during human gametogenesis. The protocols described in this chapter illustrate the processing of different meiotic samples as well as the FISH procedures.