Biotechnology over the past century has taken a striking step forward. Numerous new methods, cell cultures, genome editing, and much more have been discovered. All this allows us to better learn how the world works, how organisms work, and a number of other interesting things.
Introductory information
So what are cell cultures? As you know, the body is not something holistic. It is formed from various cells, each of which performs a specific function. If they are separated by a crude method, they will quickly perish. But the cells can be carefully removed and create conditions for them in which they can continue their activity and multiply. This is how cell cultures are formed.
How do they get them? Oddly enough, but as a basis, such cells are used that have lost the ability to divide in the body. For example, peripheral blood leukocytes. The use of cultivation allows us to solve a number of theoretical problems. In addition, thanks to him, an answer was given to a number of applied problems.
On the value and importance of research
Why do this? What benefits can cell cultures bring? Studying their behavior allows us to understand the mechanisms of control of division. It is established that in this case, a large role is played by cellular interactions. So, it is known that cells can actively divide and crawl along the glass of a vessel until they come into contact with each other. As soon as it comes to contact surfaces, the movement stops, as well as the process of reproduction. When the entire accessible surface is covered with a dense layer, the division process stops. For a while, cells can live in peace.
Then various disturbances begin to appear in them. Therefore, if the cells are not transplanted into a new vessel and do not give them a good environment, then the culture dies. It doesn’t matter what is considered - the cell culture of plants or animals, the only result is death. By the way, what is interesting - moving to a new environment does not guarantee that breeding will be stimulated. As practice has shown, if cells are transplanted several times, then they will not divide even under optimal conditions.
Limitations
Why do cell cultures die sooner or later? This is due to the so-called Hayflick limit. It is believed that cell aging is the result of established mechanisms. What is interesting is that cancerous tumors behave a little differently in this regard. For example, they do not obey the Hayflick limit. In addition, when there is no space left on the surface of the research vessels, they still continue to multiply. Thus, the tumor cell culture becomes multi-layered. Her oldest laboratory representative has already been "living" a good half century.
It should be noted that differentiation is very often observed. For example, specific proteins can be synthesized or morphological features preserved. Cultivation of cells can sometimes lead to the appearance of new properties, but there are often cases when they disappear. It is also very important when studying the mechanisms of activity. By the way, these properties have led to the fact that some cell cultures are created for the practical purpose of obtaining synthesized substances. In this way, antibodies to various proteins are obtained.
The importance of practical use
The cultivation of cell cultures plays an important role in obtaining medicinal substances. This approach is popular when working with plants that are inconvenient to grow on the plantation. Cell cultures are also suitable for biochemical analysis. For example, it is necessary to establish a diagnosis in an embryo. It is very difficult to take the material for analysis in this case. This is where cell culture technology comes to the rescue. It is necessary to take several hundred cages from the villi of the shell of the embryo. This is enough to grow a large cell mass and at the same time not harm the baby.
In addition, cell cultures are important in virology. They are necessary in order to grow these small microorganisms and study their properties. Do not forget about the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. There cell cultures are necessary in order to conduct research on possible damage to the chromosomes and DNA of various synthesized substances.
Conclusion
So it is considered what cell cultures are. This is a very promising area of work and study. It allows you to identify "tough nuts", to study, thanks to which they have such properties, and in the future use the knowledge gained for the benefit of mankind. For example, chicken embryos have shown themselves to be very resistant to various pathogenic influences. Why not investigate the cause of this state of affairs so that in the future with the help of genetic engineering not take advantage of the protection mechanisms invented by nature for your own benefit?