In biology, cell culture is the process in which cells are grown in controlled conditions outside of its native environment. This technique has enabled scientists to use cells, the fundamental unit of life, as an imperative model system for understanding the physiological processes in the human body.
One of the major contributions of cell culture is the development of the polio vaccine. Back in the early 1930s, researchers had to use live animals to grow poliovirus, but with cell culture, researchers were able to have greater control of virus production which eventually led to the creation of the vaccine. Fast forwarding to the 1970s, mammalian cell culture was used to create properly folded and glycosilated proteins, such as inteferons and antibodies, that were impossible to make in prokaryotic E. coli cells because E. coli cells lack post-translational modifications. Nowadays, cell culture is being used widely in laboratory settings, particularly in the field of vaccine research, cancer research, and protein therapeutics.
This collection of free resources will help you learn the essentials of cell culture theory and practice, including the basics of asceptic technique and cell culturing environments, cell immortalization protocols, recognizing and handling cell culture contamination, and more.
Introduction
This knowledge base explains the essentials of cell culture, including primary vs. immortalized cells, the cell cycle and immortalization process, the cell growth environment, basic cell culture techniques, and more.
Growth Factors & Cytokines
This knowledge base introduces the basics of growth factors and cytokines, including signalling mechanisms, growth factor classifications, applications of growth factors and cytokines, useful terms, and more.
Your Basic Guide to Cell Immortalization
This article explains the basics of immortalized cells, strategies for how to generate immortalized cells, an overview of a typical immortalization workflow, cell line quality control considerations, and more.
Cell Culture Quality Control and Contamination
In this article, we'll go over how to identify and handle cells with bacterial, fungal, or microbial contamination, mycoplasma contamination, cell line cross-contamination, and virus or pathogen contamination.
Cell Culture Viability and Cell Attachment
This article covers how to maintain cell culture viability, including cell culture growth behavior, cell morphology, identifying cell death, cell couting, components of cell culture media/vessels, and a troubleshooting guide
How to Optimize Your Viral Transduction
Based on your target cells, viral vectors, enhancers, and other reagents you are using in your viral transduction, there are many conditions that must be optimized in order to achieve maximum expression levels. Includes a troubleshooting guide.
Which Viral Expression System Should You Use?
Viruses are great gene delivery vehicles but which virus is best for your application? Whether you’re over-expressing, knocking down, knocking out, or knocking in a gene, there’s a viral expression system perfect for you!
Why are my cells not attaching or proliferating after thawing?
Get tips and tricks for safely thawing of your cells, including what to do if your cells are in DMSO, how to prevent recrystallization damage, and how to get your cells ready for your experiment! Includes a basic protocol.
Cell Culture Tutorial - An Introduction
Growth factors and Cytokines Tutorial - An Introduction
Cell Immortalization: How to Immortalize Cells
Cell Culture Contamination and Quality Control
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