Cell culture

Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. In practice, the term "cell culture" now refers to the culturing of cells derived from multi-cellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes, including viruses, bacteria and protists. The historical development and methods of cell culture are closely interrelated to those of tissue culture and organ culture.
Animal cell culture became a common laboratory technique in the mid-1900s, but the concept of maintaining live cell lines separated from their original tissue source was discovered in the 19th century.