Available for licensing and commercial development are methods for rapid and specific fluorescent staining of biological tissue samples that substantially preserve biological molecules such as mRNA. Also within the scope of the invention are methods for microdissecting tissue to obtain pure populations of cells or tissue structures based upon identifying and excising cells or tissue structures that are labeled with fluorescent specific binding agents. A laser capture microdissection (LCM) apparatus useful for identifying and isolating cells and tissue structures following rapid immunofluorescent staining is also disclosed. Other LCM devices are available for purchase from Arcturus Engineering.