Cell Culture

How to grow cells

Animal cells are cultured in all kinds of different vessels, ranging from tiny microfluidic devices used for basic research to 96-well plates for screening, cell-and-tissue-culture flasks, and cell factories for large scale pharmaceutical production. 

Due to their disposable use, the majority of containers is made of plastic. Others are specifically adopted to microscopy applications and therefore have a glass bottom. 

The medium for animal cell and tissue culture contains:

• water;
• an energy source;
• amino acids;
• vitamins; and
• salts.

In addition to water and nutrients, it also includes a buffer system plus a pH indicator which can check if the cell medium is maintaining a balanced pH level.

What tools do I need for cell and tissue culture?

To manage the daily work of a cell-and-tissue-culture lab, a microscope with an inverse configuration is needed. Such an inverted microscope features the objective lens below and the condenser above the specimen, enabling the objective to be placed in proximity of the cells, often at the bottom of flasks, and a large working distance above the specimen so it can be easily handled during imaging.

Due to the very low intrinsic contrast of animal cells, a cell-and-tissue-culture microscope has to deliver contrast methods like phase contrast. DIC (Differential Interference Contrast) doesn’t help here, because it does not work with the plastic vessels used for cell and tissue culture. A very good alternative for DIC is IMC (Integrated Modulation Contrast), which works with plastic containers and, in addition, doesn’t need special objectives or prisms. Moreover, a cell-and-tissue-culture microscope should be easy to handle so cell imaging can be done efficiently. 

Leica cell-and-tissue-culture microscopes offer you the ease of use and flexibility with contrast methods that you need for your individual requirements.