In Biomaterials Testing, a cell culture assay is any method which is used to assess the cytotoxicity of a material. This refers to the in vitro assessment of material to determine whether it releases toxic chemicals in sufficient quantities to kill cells either directly or indirectly through the inhibition of cell metabolic pathways. Cell culture evaluations are the precursor to whole animal studies and are a way to determine if significant cytotoxicity exists for the given material. Cell culture assays are standardized by ASTM, ISO, and BSI (British Standards Institution.)
Famous quotes containing the words cell, culture and/or assays:
“In America all too few blows are struck into flesh. We kill the spirit here, we are experts at that. We use psychic bullets and kill each other cell by cell.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)
“Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth,
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)