Use of Cell Culture For Various Purpose

Cell cultures of various sorts from animal and microbes are becoming increasingly exploited not only by scientists for studying the activity of cells in isolation, but also by various biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for the production of valuable biological products including viral vaccines (e.g. polio vaccine), antibodies (e.g. OKT3 used in suppressing immunological organ rejection in transplant surgery) and various recombinant proteins. The application of recombinant DNA techniques has led to an ever-expanding list of improved products, both from mammalian and bacterial cells, for therapeutic use in humans. These products include the commercial production of factor VIII for haemophilia, insulin for diabetes, interferon-α, and β for anticancer chemotherapy and erythropoietin for anaemia. Bacterial cultures have also been widely used for other industrial purposes including the large-scale production of cell proteins, growth regulators, organic acids, alcohols, solvents, sterols, surfactants, vitamins, amino acids and many more products. In addition, degradation of waste products particularly those from the agricultural and food industries are another important industrial application of microbial cells. They are also exploited in the bioconversion of waste to useful end products, and in toxicological studies where some of these organisms are rapidly replacing animals in preliminary toxicological testing of xenobiotics. The advent of stem cell culture now provides the possibility of treating diseases using cell-based therapy. This would be particularly important in regenerating diseased or damaged tissues by transplanting stem cells programmed to differentiate into a specific cell type specialised in carrying out a specific function.

---

Image Credit » http://clipartist.info/openclipart.org/2011/Sept/September/25-Sunday/cell_culture-229px.png

---