What is a stem cell line?
A stem cell line is a population of cells that can replicate themselves for long periods of time in vitro, meaning outside of the body. These cell lines are grown in incubators with specialized growth factor-containing media (liquid food source), at a temperature and oxygen/carbon dioxide mixture resembling that found in the mammalian body.
A stem cell line is composed of a population of cells that can replicate themselves for long periods of time in vitro, meaning out of the body. These cell lines are grown in incubators with specialized growth factor-containing media, at a temperature and oxygen/carbon dioxide mixture resembling that found in the mammalian body.
Growing cells in a laboratory is known as cell culture. Stem cell lines can be developed two ways: Using embryonic stem cells and using iPS cells. Embryonic stem cells from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst (4 to 5 days after fertilization) are transferred into a plastic laboratory culture dish containing a liquid nutrient called culture medium and a feeder layer which releases nutrients into the culture medium. The cells divide and spread over the surface of the culture dish. After stem cells make copies of themselves or duplicate for several days, they crowd the dish. They are removed gently and distributed between several fresh culture dishes. This replating of the cells is repeated for many months and is called subculturing. After several weeks, those original 30 cells yield millions of embryonic stem cells. After these cells have proliferated in a cell culture for many or more months without differentiating – and have normal numbers of chromosomes – they are referred to as an em
A stem cell line, also called an embryonic stem cell line, refers to all cells that were created from a single stem cell. Similar to the way that family members can be traced back to one common ancestor, stem cells can be traced back to one original stem cell. These cells are then said to be one “cell line.” Cell lines can include many millions of identical cells and these cells are thought to be able to divide and exist forever.
Related Questions
- Im interested in purchasing more than one cell line from the NIH Stem Cell Registry. What is known about the status of the cell lines and their availability?
- Once a human embryonic stem cell line is listed on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, are lines derived from it also eligible?
- What is a human embryonic stem cell line?
