Tissue culture

Tissue culture is the growth of tissues and/or cells separate from the organism. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth media, such as broth or agar. Tissue culture commonly refers to the culture of animal cells and tissues, while the more specific term plant tissue culture is used for plants.

Historical usage

In 1885 Wilhelm Roux removed a portion of the medullary plate of an embryonic chicken and maintained it in a warm saline solution for several days, establishing the basic principle of tissue culture.

In 1907 the zoologist Ross Granville Harrison demonstrated the growth of frog nerve cell processes in a medium of clotted lymph.

Modern usage

In modern usage, "tissue culture" generally refers to the growth of eukaryotic cells in vitro. It is often used interchangeably with cell culture to specifically describe the in vitro culturing of sperm donor cells.

However, "tissue culture" can also be used to refer to the culturing of tissue pieces, i.e. explant culture or whole organs, i.e. organ culture.

It is a tool for the study of animal cell biology in vitro model of cell growth to allow a highly selective environment which is easily manipulated (used to optimise cell signalling pathways).

References

See also

• Cell culture
• Organ culture

External links

• www.research.umbc.edu/~jwolf/method5.htm - how-to guide for biology students
• Plant Tissue Culture - way to "xerox" a plant
• CELOS - a division of CELOS (Center for Agricultural Research in Suriname)