Histopathology is the examination of tissues from the body under a microscope to spot the signs and characteristics of the disease. Histology is the study of tissues and pathology is the study of disease. The tissue that is studied comes from a biopsy or surgical procedure whereby a sample of the suspect tissue is selected and sent to the laboratory. It is then processed and cut into very thin layers (called sections), stained and examined under microscopes to characterize the details of the cells in the tissue.