Uses of Tissue Culture
Biology: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 6.2.5
Micropropagation Uses
Micropropagation involves growing genetically identical cells in a lab under sterile conditions (without contamination from microorganisms).
Plants
- We can produce lots of genetically identical plants quickly from tissue culture cells.
- We can produce these plants any time of year in a lab.
- We can introduce genetic modifications quickly into a large number of plants, after modifying only a few plants.
- We can increase the population numbers of rare plant species.
Transgenic animals
- Transgenic animals that have had human genes inserted into their genomes can be cloned in large numbers to produce human proteins.
- Transgenic animals can produce human antibodies for vaccines.
Test yourself on Uses of Tissue Culture
Which of these is not a benefit of micropropagation?