In Other Words: Not All Cultures Are Human

The word culture may make you think of a flag, style of clothing, celebration, or some other tradition associated with a particular group of people. But in biomedical science, a culture is a group of cells grown in a lab. Scientists use cultures to learn about basic biological processes and to develop and test new medicines. Credit: NIGMS. The Birth of a Culture Scientists can grow many types of cells as cultures, from bacteria to human cells. To create a culture, a researcher adds cells to a container such as a Petri dish along with a mix of nutrients the cells need to grow and divide. The exact recipe varies depending on the cell type. (Because many lab containers were historically made of glass, researchers sometimes refer to studies that use cultures as in vitro—Latin for “in glass.”) Once the cells multiply and fill their container, researchers split the culture into new containers to produce more. Most normal human cells will stop dividing after a few weeks or months, but scientists can tweak steps in their division process so that they continue growing and multiplying for longer. Another way to create these so-called immortal cultures is to start with cancer cells or stem cells, which naturally continue dividing for extended periods of time—allowing scientists more time to study and use them. Why Cultures? Scientists have greater control of experiments when using cultures instead of research organisms. For instance, they can more easily: ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Cells Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques In Other Words Source Type: blogs