Aseptic Technique And Cell Culture Flashcards
What do aseptic techniques do?
Eliminate unwanted microbial contaminants when culturing microorganisms or cells
What do aseptic techniques involve?
The sterilisation of equipment and culture media by heat or chemical means and subsequent exclusion of microbial contaminants
How can a microbial culture be started?
Using an inoculum of microbial cells on an agar medium or in a broth with suitable nutrients
What do many culture media exist to do?
To promote the growth of specific types of cells and microbes
How are animal cells grown?
In medium containing growth factors from serum
What are growth factors?
Proteins that promote cell growth and proliferation
What are growth factors essential for?
The culture of most animal cells
In culture what is the difference between primary cell lines and tumour cell lines?
Primary cell lines divide a limited number of times whereas tumour cell lines can preform unlimited divisions
What does plating out a liquid microbial culture on solid medium allow?
The number of colony-forming units to be counted and the density of cells in the culture to be estimated
What is often needed to achieve a suitable colony count?
A serial dilution
What is a heamocytometer used for?
To estimate the cell numbers in a liquid culture
Why is vital staining required when using a heamocytometer?
To identify and count viable cells by staining the dead cells
