• Animal cell culture is in vitro maintenance and proliferation of animal cells using an appropriate nutrient media.
• The basic requirement for optimal growth of cells include temperature, pH and appropriate growth medium.
• Animal cell media can be categorised into two major categories, namely natural media and artificial or synthetic media.
Natural media consists of naturally occurring biological fluids, such as plasma, tissue extract, etc., and it is suitable for the culture of a wide range of animal cells.
• Artificial or synthetic media is made up of various nutrients (both organic and inorganic), vitamins, salts, O2 and CO2 gases, serum, carbohydrates, cofactors, etc., and it can be modified according to purpose and it is divided into four categories namely, serum containing, serum free, chemically defined and protein free media.
• The cell culture can be classified as primary cell culture and secondary cell culture (cell line).
• Primary cells can grow either as an adherent monolayer or in a suspension.
• Secondary cell lines are derived from primary cells after sub-culturing.
• Based on the life span of culture, the cell lines are categorised into finite and continuous cell lines.
• The cell viability measurement i.e., the determination of living or dead cells, is very significant in cell culture and is done via dye exclusion or viability assays and metabolic viability assays.
• Cell culture technology has application in various areas, such as molecular genetics, immunological analyses, gene therapy, bioengineering, pharmaceutical industry, etc.
• Animal cell culture plays an important role in research and development of drug and also helps to improve the health and quality of life of patients suffering from various diseases, such as cancer, genetic disorders, etc.
