Differential staining

Differential Staining is a staining process which uses more than one chemical stain. Using multiple stains can better differentiate between different microorganisms or structures/cellular components of a single organism.

Differential staining is used to detect abnormalities in the proportion of different white blood cells in the blood. The process or results are called a WBC differential. This test is useful because many diseases alter the proportion of certain white blood cells. By analyzing these differences in combination with a clinical exam and other lab tests, medical professionals can diagnose disease.

One commonly recognizable use of differential staining is the Gram stain. Gram staining uses two dyes: Crystal violet and Fuchsin or Safranin (the counterstain) to differentiate between Gram-positive bacteria (large Peptidoglycan layer on outer surface of cell) and Gram-negative bacteria.

Acid-fast Stains are also differential stains.

Further reading
gollark: Are there parts of the computation which don't change much between runs? You could do caching, if so.
gollark: So it uses your model of the magnetic field from the cable to pick the best way to reduce the magnetic field around the cable, or something like that?
gollark: So how does the slow genetic algorithm thing relate?
gollark: What are the axes?
gollark: Well, your graph looks very graphical, I suppose.
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