Cell culture is the growth of cells from an animal or plant in an artificial, controlled environment. Cells are removed either from the organism directly and disaggregated before cultivation or from a cell line or cell strain that has previously been established.
Certain culture conditions depend on the cell type, however, each culture must consist of a suitable vessel with a substrate or medium that supplies the nutrients (such as amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals), growth factors or essential hormones for culturing cells. Gases (O2, CO2), physicochemical environment (pH, osmotic pressure, temperature) also play an important role to regulate the proper cell growth in an artificial environment.
Cell culture applications
- Is a major consistent and reproducible tool in molecular and cellular biology.
- Helps to study normal cell homeostasis, cell biochemistry, metabolism, mutagenesis, diseases, and compound effects.
- Is a model system for diseases and drug screening.