In vitro
In vitro ( Latin for 'in the glass') are organic processes that take place outside a living organism , in contrast to those that take place in the living organism ( in vivo ). In science, in vitro refers to experiments carried out in a controlled artificial environment outside of a living organism, such as in a test tube or petri dish .
Examples
In vitro studies
Biological and medical experiments can be controlled better in vitro than in vivo. For example, conditions can be influenced more easily and individually. The knowledge gained in this way cannot, however, simply be transferred to the processes in the living organism. For example, the binding of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin in vitro is 25,000 times stronger than that of oxygen. In vivo, however, this affinity is only 200 times higher. For this reason, results from in vitro studies are usually checked with a further series of tests in vivo.
Special applications
- In-vitro fertilization (IVF), the "fertilization in the test tube"
- In-vitro maturation , maturation of egg cells in the Petri dish
- In-vitro meat , cultured meat, colloquially "laboratory meat"
- In-vitro diagnostics (IVD)
- In vitro contracture test, diagnostic method for malignant hyperthermia
- In vitro selection or in vitro evolution, a technique for generating pieces of DNA or RNA, see SELEX
See also
literature
- Kurt Heininger: In-vitro and in-vivo studies on the selective immunoadsorption treatment of neurological diseases . Springer Verlag, Berlin 1993, ISBN 978-3-642-77093-7 .
