Cell Bio Midterm #1 Flashcards
Lec 1 - 10
what do cell cultures allow us to do
propagate and maintain cells in the lab
what does cell cultures refer to
the maintenance of cells outside of an organism (in vitro)
what are cells bathed in during a cell culture and what does it do
bathed in a culture medium that mimics the extracellular fluid
what does the culture medium contain
nutrients, ions, growth factors, and often antibiotics
what are culture dishes coated with
proteins that are found in the extracellular matrix
what degree Celsius and CO2 levels are most mammalian cells incubated at
37 celsius and 5% CO2
what does our genome carry
the necessary instructions for the differentiation of a single fertilized egg into all of diverse cell types in the human body
what makes up the cell culture environment
temp, pH, ionic strength, nutrients, special surfaces, antibiotics
what are the two main forms of cultured cells
primary cells and cell lines
what are primary cells
cells that are directly generated from multicellular organisms
do primary cells divide
finite division and some do not divide at all
what are cell lines
cells that were originally primary cells but have acquired mutations that allow them to grow and survive indefinitely
what do these “transformed” cells have the characteristics of?
cancer cells
what is passaging
extracting transformed cell lines and transferring them to another culture dish to expand that culture
what does microscopy do
enables us to magnify objects so that we can observe them in greater amount of detail
what is cryopreservation
freezing a subset of these transformed cells for later use
what is the average cell length
tens of microns (millionth of a meter)
which lens provides the greatest amount of magnification
objective lens
what is the quality of the magnified image affected by
contrast and resolution
what is contrast
the ability to distinguish between the sample and the background
what is resolution
the ability to distinguish between two closely apposed objects
how do brightfield microscopes illuminate specimens
use white light (all wavelengths of light) to illuminate
how do fluorescence microscopes work
they direct light of a single wavelength of narrow range at the specimen
what are the two orientations of microscopes
upright (objective lens above and light below) and inverted (objective lens below and light above)