Suspension culture

Suspension culture is a type of cell culture in which the cells are grown in a liquid medium, as opposed to a solid medium. This method of cell culture is commonly used in biotechnology, molecular biology, and other related fields.

Overview

In a suspension culture, the cells are free-floating in the medium, which allows for a homogeneous environment and easy manipulation of the culture conditions. This is in contrast to adherent culture, where the cells are attached to a surface. Suspension culture is particularly useful for growing large quantities of cells, as the cells can be easily scaled up in bioreactors.

Applications

Suspension culture is widely used in various fields of biological research and industry. In biotechnology, it is used for the production of biopharmaceuticals, such as monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins. In molecular biology, it is used for the study of cell behavior and function, including gene expression, protein synthesis, and cell division.

In addition, suspension culture is also used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine for the production of tissue constructs and organoids.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The main advantage of suspension culture is its scalability. Since the cells are not attached to a surface, they can be easily scaled up in large bioreactors. This makes suspension culture ideal for industrial applications, such as the production of biopharmaceuticals.

However, suspension culture also has some disadvantages. For example, some types of cells, such as mammalian cells, prefer to attach to a surface and may not grow well in suspension. In addition, the cells in suspension culture are more susceptible to shear stress, which can cause cell damage.

See Also

• Cell culture
• Adherent culture
• Bioreactor
• Tissue engineering
• Regenerative medicine