NOVELTY - Processing a tissue specimen involves (a) obtaining the tissue specimen; (b) fixing the tissue specimen; (c) dehydrating the tissue specimen; (d) clearing the tissue specimen; and infiltrating the tissue specimen, where the tissue specimen is processed in steps (b)-(e) by a series of solutions all containing a conductive polymer. The solution used in the fixation step is aqueous; and the tissue specimen and series of solutions are heated in steps (b)-(e) by microwave energy and Ohmic energy. The dehydration and clearing occur in a single step using a mixture of ethanol and ethyl lactate.    USE - For processing a tissue specimen (claimed) e.g. DNA or RNA.    ADVANTAGE - The method is rapid, efficient and uses chemicals that provide superior processing attributes, are safer to handle, and are more environmentally friendly than current chemicals used in tissue processing. During the fixation, dehydration, clearing, and impregnation steps, the method uses a combination of ohmic and microwave energy to heat the sample to achieve rapid tissue processing and thereby reduce the time of tissue exposer to heat. The method allows the reuse of processing fluids, which allows a reduction in the total amount of processing fluids used over a period. The conventional tissue processing methods consumed about seventeen gallons of processing fluids per week, whereas this method consumed approximately five gallons of processing fluids for the same period. The ohmic heating uniformly heats tissues irrespective of the tissue density of the specimen. The ability of the ohmic heat to shorten the time that the tissue is exposed to heat actually helps to preserve and maintain the tissue e.g. DNA and RNA. The ohmic heating produces even and consistent heating without sporadic hot or cold spots, and maintains a steady temperature throughout the tissue specimen. Microwave energy combined with ohmic heat provides a uniform temperature throughout the processing solution and submerged tissue sample, which allows for more uniform results and a more accurate, consistent diagnosis.