Cell culture is a fundamental part of life science research, and a staple for many biological scientists. Traditional culture methods are well established, but advances in cell culture techniques often mean that long-standing protocols require optimization to avoid impacts on accuracy and reliability.
Optimizing your cell culture protocol doesn’t have to be complex and time-consuming. Using high-quality reagents and rapid contamination testing kits, you can craft the perfect cell culture method to ensure reliable results and happy cells!
Download this listicle to discover how to:
- Ensure reproducibility in your results
- Avoid microbial contamination
- Mimic in vivo conditions for maximum growth and viability
Finding the Perfect Recipe for
Cell Culture
July 2024
Introduction
Cell culture is a fundamental part of life science research. It’s so fundamental that we’ve probably all spent countless
hours checking confluence, passaging cells and hoping for negative contamination tests. Cell culture enables the
growth and manipulation of cells in a controlled, replicable artificial environment (in vitro). This allows for the analysis
of cellular mechanisms and behavior, the production of biologics as well as the growth and investigation of obligate
intracellular pathogens, such as viruses.
While the classic methods of cell culture have been around since the early 20th century, recent technological
developments have introduced a range of new types of cell culture. These new techniques, such as 3D cell culture,
organoids and advanced cell models bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo models and provide insight into the
structure of tissues and cell heterogeneity.1
For even the most seasoned cell culture scientist, finding the perfect recipe to optimize cell culture conditions can be
complex and time-consuming. The conditions that work perfectly for one cell line might be limiting for another, and
suboptimal growth conditions can affect cellular mechanisms, inhibit viability and encourage microbial
contamination. Add to this the complex extra needs of novel cell culture techniques, and you could end up with
significant effects on the accuracy and reliability of your results and long, wasted hours in the lab.
Cell culture doesn’t have to be a headache though: with a pinch of the right high-quality reagents, a dash of in vivo
like
conditions and regular contamination testing, you can craft a perfectly optimized cell culture method to ensure
reliable results and happy cells for many passages to come! This listicle will explore some of the important ingredients
to consider when finding your perfect culture recipe.
