The technique of surrounding virus particles with a neutralised electron
dense stain was described at the Fourth International Congress on Electron
Microscopy, Berlin 1958 (see Home & Brenner, 1960, p. 625). For many
years the negative staining technique in one form or another, has been
applied to a wide range of biological materials. However, the full potential
of the method has only recently been explored following the development and
applications of optical diffraction and computer image analytical techniques
to electron micrographs (cf. De Hosier & Klug, 1968; Markham 1968;
Crowther et al., 1970; Home & Markham, 1973; Klug & Berger, 1974;
Crowther & Klug, 1975). These image processing procedures have allowed a
more precise and quantitative approach to be made concerning the
interpretation, measurement and reconstruction of repeating features in
certain biological systems.
