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The tissue, eg.
kidney, testis, thyroid, is made into a single cell suspension by limited digestion with a
proteolytic enzyme such as trypsin. The single cells are grown in glass or plastic bottles
in buffered medium consisting of physiologic salts, an energy source (eg glucose), amino
acids, antibiotics and usually animal serum. The cells adhere to glass & plastic
surfaces, divide and form a confluent monolayers. After several days these cells must be
split into 4-12 flasks by disrupting the monolayer back into single cells using trypsin
with EDTA. This is called "passaging the cells". Cultures after the first
passage from a tissue are called primary cell cultures, at the second pass, secondary
cell cultures. |