Biotechnology has taken a startling step forward over the past century. Numerous new techniques have been discovered, cell cultures, genome editing, and more. All this allows us to better learn how the world works, how organisms work and a number of other interesting things.
Introduction
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 you separate them by a rough method, they will quickly die. But the cells can be carefully removed and created such conditions in which they can continue their activities and multiply. This is how cell cultures are formed.
How do you get them? Oddly enough, but as a basis, such cells are used that have lost the ability to divide as part of the body. For example, peripheral blood leukocytes. The use of cultivation allows solving a number of theoretical problems. In addition, thanks to him, an answer was given to a number of applied problems.
Ohsignificance and importance in research
Why do this? What are the benefits of cell cultures? The study of their behavior allows us to understand the mechanisms of division control. It has been established that cellular interactions play an important role in this case. Thus, it is known that cells can actively divide and spread along the glass of the vessel until they come into contact with each other. As soon as it comes to the contact of the surfaces, the movement stops, as well as the process of reproduction. When the entire available surface is covered with a dense layer, the division process stops. For a while, the cells will be able to live in peace.
Then various disturbances begin to appear in them. Therefore, if the cells are not transplanted into a new vessel and given a good environment, the culture will die. It does not matter what is considered - a cell culture of plants or animals, the result is the same - death. By the way, what is interesting is that moving to a new environment does not guarantee that reproduction will be stimulated. As practice has shown, if cells are relocated several times, they will not divide even under optimal conditions.
Restrictions
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 inherent mechanisms. What is interesting is that cancerous tumors behave a little differently in this regard. For example, they do not obey the Hayflick limit. Besides,when there is no space left on the surface of the research vessels, they still continue to multiply. Thus, the tumor cell culture becomes multilayered. Its oldest laboratory representative has already "lived" for a good half a century.
It should be noted that differentiation is very often observed. For example, specific proteins can be synthesized or morphological features are preserved. Cultivation of cells can sometimes lead to the appearance of new properties, but it is not uncommon for them to 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. This is how they get antibodies to various proteins.
Importance of practical use
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 a 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 material for analysis in this case. This is where cell culture technology comes in. It is necessary to take several hundred fledglings from the villi of the embryonic membrane. This is enough to grow a large cell mass and not harm the baby at the same time.
Besides this, cell cultures are also important in virology. They are necessary to growthese small microorganisms and study their properties. We should not forget about the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. There, cell cultures are needed in order to conduct studies of possible damage to the chromosomes and DNA of various synthesized substances.
Conclusion
That's what cell cultures are. This is a very promising direction of work and study. It allows you to identify "hard nuts", to study why they have such properties, and in the long term to 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 reason for this state of affairs, so that in the future, with the help of genetic engineering, you can not take advantage of the defense mechanisms invented by nature for your own benefit?
