Animal cell culture and methods used

Animal cell culture has been around for a long time, but it is still so much more complex than it seems on the surface, as this article explains. There are all sorts of factors that affect just how successful a particular experiment will be and how difficult it will be to grow cells from one type of organism into others.

What is cell culture?

In order to understand how animal cell cultures work, it is useful to look at a simple example. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells that perform all manner of functions. All of these cells depend on each other in some way or another. During development these cells must be able to change their functions at an incredibly rapid rate in response to changing environmental factors. This ability is likely why the human body is so adaptable and capable of withstanding trauma and disease.

For example, the pancreas has different functions in a mouse than it does in a human being. The pancreas of a human acts as the organ that secretes insulin into the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar. In a mouse, it is responsible for digestion. The change in cell function is likely due to the fact that these cells are exposed to very different signalling molecules outside of their cellular environment. It is likely that these molecules are secreted by other nearby cells in order to induce the right type of behaviour in responding cells. If cells were unable to be responsive to their environment, they would not be able to react appropriately and would therefore not be able to perform the functions they need in order for us to thrive. The commonly used way to grow cells is called the “animal cell culture” method. This use of the term “animal cell culture” is somewhat different than the way that this technology is currently used, which is described in more detail below. Early attempts at making animal cells to become human cells failed due to difficulties in providing them with the proper stimuli needed for them to perform and behave as expected. However, by studying how human cells act in a petri dish we can improve our ability to grow human tissue in a lab and help patients who need transplants. This research has led to a number of advancements both in cell biology and in medicine.

Uses of Animal Cell Culture:

The most widely known use of animal cell culture is in the medical field. Scientists are able to grow human cells from different patients to find out what exactly went wrong in the development of a disease, like cancer, and how we can potentially fix it. There was an immense amount of progress made during the 20th century in this area. This technology has led to better treatments for patients and also has led to some discoveries that have helped people live longer healthier lives.

Animal cell culture is also used widely in virology research. Scientists use this method to study viruses both in order to better understand them and their workings as well as figure out ways to prevent them from causing infection in humans or animals.

Animal Cell Culture Methods:

There are a number of ways in which animal cell culture is done. The three most commonly used methods are:

1. Plating: The first simplest method to grow cells is known as “plating”, which involves placing a group of cells on a culture dish and letting them multiply by themselves. This method often produces very impressive results because it requires very little effort and is most applicable when trying to study the behaviour of cell colonies formed by bacteria, as opposed to species that have already been cultured, like human cells. Cells are grown in large numbers in this type of method because it is relatively quick and cheap compared with other methods of cell growth.

2. Explant Culture: This method of cell growth involves placing a piece of tissue directly into a culture dish and allowing it to grow into many pieces. 

3. Suspension Culture: This is the method of growing cells that is most often used for human cell cultures. It involves taking a small sample of tissue from a larger mass and growing it in a culture dish. It differs slightly from explant culture because it allows the tissue to retain some of its native structure, whereas explant culture doesn’t allow any sort of cellular attachments.

The specific methods used in animal cell cultures depend on three main factors:

1. The size and structure of the tissues that you want to grow 

2. How much time you are willing to spend working with each cell colony (plating takes little time, but produces few results) 

3. The goal of your experiment (i.e. do you want to create a system that mimics, in a lab setting, the ones in the body naturally, or do you just need to get an idea of how the organism will react when exposed to a certain signal?)

Animal Cell Culture Methods:

There are two main types of animal cell cultures: tissue culture and suspension culture . Tissue culture involves growing cells from one single type of tissue . It is a good way to grow cells that are used for genetic engineering and for finding the genes that cause diseases. This method differentiates tissues based on the environmental factors it is exposed to. If you want to study what types of genes are expressed in a particular cell and how they transform into a more differentiated cell, then tissue culture is the best choice for you. Suspension cultures can be used to grow many different types of cells, including embryonic cells and stem cells. This method involves having a subculture every 2-3 weeks, so it is better suited for long term experiments rather than those that only last 2-3 weeks. 

Conclusion:

Animal cell culture is currently one of the most widely used methods in biology today and will likely continue to play a huge role in how we study organisms and their interactions with other species. By working with animal cells, we can better understand how the human body works, why we get sick, and how we might be able to create new drugs or vaccines that could be used to treat people who are already sick.