Tissue culture is a generic term that includes
organ culture, which is the
growth of small fragments of
Tissue or a whole embryonic organ, and cell culture, where the
cells of a tissue are dispersed by mechanical or enzymatic means and propagated as a cell suspension or attached to a glass or plastic surface. Tissue culture requires sterile conditions and a culture medium containing water, salts, various nutrients, and blood serum to sustain cell survival and growth outside the body. Serum-free culture media have been developed to satisfy specific cell growth needs and functions. A culture established from a tissue or organ is known as a primary culture. A single cell of a primary culture can be isolated to establish a cell line to provide a large amount of material for long-term use. Growing cells can be examined under a microscope and their movements monitored by time-lapse recording on film or videotape for further study.
Cultured animal cells and tissues are extensively used for biological research. For example, tissue culture
methods are valuable for testing drugs with an application in medicine and for preparing vaccines, antibodies, growth factors, clotting factors, and numerous proteins. Blood-forming cells can be obtained from the bone marrow of healthy donors, cultured in the presence of growth
factors and used for transplantation into compatible recipients in the treatment of malignant disorders, in particular leukemias. Tissue culture methods are being developed for transplantation of insulin-producing cells isolated from fetal pancreatic tissue into patients with diabetes that do not respond to conventional medical treatment.
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