Topic 1:9 - culturing cells Flashcards
What is Cell Culture?
Cell culture is the growth of cells under specific controlled conditions
What is cell culture used to grow?
It is used to grow:
-Microorganisms
-Animal cells
-Plant cells
-Genetically modified cells
-Stem cells
-Fungi
List the techniques of cell culture
- physical dissection
- chemical dissection
- incubation and growth
- further separation and purification
describe physical dissection:
first: Tissue is removed from its source with sterilised equipment to ensure that microorganisms do not contaminate the culture because microorganisms grow faster than eukaryotic cells.
Second: Physical dissection involves sharp scissors and scalpel to separate cells in a tissue.
briefly describe chemical dissection
Chemical dissection involves enzymes to digest the extracellular matrix that holds cells together in a tissue.
briefly state what incubation and growth is
a technique of cell culture where separated cells are incubated and grown in a medium.
briefly describe the last technique of cell culture
Further separation and purification of cells of interest achieved by selective media, removal of cells at different levels of attachment, and with specific immunomagnetic beads.
list the 8 conditions for optimum cell growth
-appropriate nutrients
-oxygen
-growth factors
-osmotic balance
-optimal pH
-optimal temperature
-antibiotics
-sterile environment
describe why appropriate nutrients is a condition for optimum cell growth
Cells require macronutrients and micronutrients for metabolic reactions involved in growth and development.
describe why optimal temperatures is a condition for optimum cell growth
Cells are cultured in a medium that has the optimum temperature for enzyme activity.
describe why a sterile environment is a condition for optimum cell growth
To ensure the cell culture is free from contaminants. Cell culture hoods, UV light and ethanol are used to sterilize.
describe why a antibiotics are a condition for optimum cell growth
Antibiotics are added to kill bacteria that would otherwise contaminate the culture.
what is an anchorage dependent cell and it’s relevance?
Anchorage dependent cell types such as human skin cells only grow once attached to a suitable surface (flat dish). They will fill the space for growth until density restricts growth to a monolayer.
Cancer cells do not form a monolayer but pile up and form several layers of cells.
what is an anchorage independent cell and it’s relevance?
Anchorage independent cells such as human blood cells, grow in the absence of a suitable surface.
list 6 applications of cell culture
-research
-toxicology
-cancer research
-genetic engineering
-food production
describe how cell culture is used in cancer research?
cell culture is used to study the properties’ of cancer cells as well as the effects of ionising radiation and different drugs to improve targeted radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
describe how cell culture is used in genetic engineering?
cell culture is used to modify DNA sequences in cultured cell lines before producing a transgenic organism for growth and development -used to develop products for commercial applications including GM plants with herbicide resistance.
describe how cell culture is used in virology research
cell culture is used to study the interactions between viruses and cultured cell lines for the development of new drugs and vaccines.
describe how cell culture is used in toxicology
cell culture is used to study the effect of different concentrations of new and existing drugs on the structure and function of cells.
what are 6 advantages of cell culture?
-Culture conditions can be controlled to ensure optimal cell growth rate.
-cultured cells are used effectively to study interactions between medicines and different cell types.
-New antibodies and vaccines can be synthesised and their effects on cells studied outside the body.
-cost effective technique
-Reduced need to test and investigate new solutions in live animal models.
-cell cultures are used to effectively diagnose disease from a tissue sample obtained from a patient.
what are 4 disadvantages of cell culture?
-Must maintain a sterile environment. (Contamination by microbes and other cell types is possible in a laboratory setting)
-Studying the effects of drugs and pathogens on a targeted cell type does not identify all effects of the drug or pathogen in the body of an organism.
-Toxins and/or dead cells accumulate in the culture.
-Non-cancerous cell lines have a finite capacity for growth and cell division despite frequent sub-culturing of the cells.
what is a clone?
A clone is a genetically identical organism that is derived from a single parent organism.
production of clones is called?
Production of clones is called reproductive cloning.
what kinds of clones are there?
Clones include plant, animal and prokaryotic cells, mature plants and mature animals.
what is natural vegetative propagation?
Vegetative propagation occurs naturally in many plants that reproduce asexually from structures including roots, stems, cuttings, bulbs.
what is micropropagation?
Artificially induced vegetative propagation is called micropropagation.
cloning in animals can use
-embryonic stem cells
-somatic cells and an egg cell with the nucleus removed
