Why Is Tissue Culture Important?
Tissue culture refers to the growth of tissue cells in a liquid medium, conducted separate from the natural growth of that tissue in the organism to which it belongs. This is different from the culture of bacteria or viruses, which have no tissue cells, but at times the research purposes can be similar. Both types of culturing are done to study the cells and increase medical or botanical knowledge.
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Animal and Human Cell Culture
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One type of tissue culture is conducted on tissue samples from animals and humans. This type of culture process is conducted primarily for medical research purposes. Tissue samples are taken from the subject and then grown in a nutrient-rich solution, where the cells are encouraged to continue developing up to a certain stage, after which they can no longer survive.
Medicine and Research
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The culturing of living tissue sampled from humans is usually done in order to study how the tissue reacts to certain treatments, or how it grows in certain conditions. It is very difficult to make tissue grow outside a human or animal body. Much of the research pertains to stem cells, and directing the cells to develop into certain types of tissue based on their DNA instructions.
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Plant Fiber Culture
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One of the most common types of tissue culturing is conducted in botanical and agricultural research. Plant tissue is much easier to grow in a nutrient rich suspension than human or animal tissue, and with the right nutrients, different tissue samples can often be encouraged to develop as they would on a normal plant specimen.
Growth and Hybridization Techniques
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Plant tissues are cultured to study how they grow and how they respond to specific stimuli, especially different nutrients. By creating nutrient solutions that plants respond well to, scientists can create new, more effective fertilizers or study the affects of current fertilizers on specific types of tissue.
Genetic Modification
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Plant tissues are also cultured when experimented with genetic modification. Most gene modification on plants is conducted to alter a specific part of the plant and the way it grows. By isolating those tissues and growing them in a lab, scientists can quickly test their gene modification and spot any problems.
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References
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