Stacy+Gordon


 * Stacy's Selective Tissue Types**

**Summary of Stacy's Selective Tissue Types:**
Stacy's Selective Tissue Types is a multi million-dollar company that utilizes many cell culture techniques in order to improve the human condition through the development of specific cells, tissues and organs, vaccines and basic research. Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types is divided into three divisions. The basic research division concentrates on discovering new techniques for culturing different cells and tissue types and defining the requirements for sustaining cellular growth. Furthermore, the basic research division works on new applications for cell and tissue culture technology including, the development of transplantable organs and the testing of newly developed medications on cultured tissues and cells. //In vitro// testing of pre-production antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs and assessing their toxicity to cultured tissues and cells are of particular importance to the basic research division. The vaccine division concentrates on developing and testing new vaccines to cure several diseases. Scientists will do this utilizing cell culture techniques that obviate the need for vaccine development in chicken eggs allowing for safer and more efficient production of vaccines. Next, we have our human transplantation division that develops cells, tissues and organs for direct human transplantation. We are able to take patient’s cartilage cells, culture them and replant them back into the knee where there are cartilage defects. We have also transplanted skin for severe burns which has saved many lives. We have even been able to culture bladder cells and utilize novel scaffold materials to create and transplant full bladders back into patients who have had their bladders removed. This division is also working in conjunction with the basic research division to develop new protocols for culturing, creating and transplanting hepatic, renal, pancreatic, cardiac and neural cells, tissues and organs to treat various diseases. Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types also has a plant division that focuses on taking explants (taking tissue from a plant), placing them into culture mediums, and then growing more of the cells. Plants can be cloned in culture utilizing a technique called meristem tip culture. The most common explants are parts of the plant including the stem tips, auxiliary bud tips and root tips. These are collectively termed meristematic explants. These cells are important because they divide quickly and produce regulating substances. Meristem and shoot culture can lead to identical individuals. This technique is used in various ways including saving rare and endangered plant species by taking cells from remaining plants and culturing them into full mature plants. Scientists can also screen for favorable characteristics by taking a few cells from the plant, growing them in culture and testing susceptibility to various diseases. They then culture or grow the plants that have the desired resistance. They can make new transgenic plants by transfecting cultured cells with desirable pieces of DNA. Cells can be grown in a liquid culture to produce valuable compounds such as biopharmaceuticals also known as a bioreactor. Crossing related species in culture can create new plant species and identical sterile hybrids.

**Meet the CEO and President:**
My name is Stacy Gordon and I am the CEO and president of Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types. I am forty years old, I graduated from Colgate University and majored in Neuroscience. I continued my education at Cornell University and received my Masters degree in Bioengineering. After Cornell University, I continued my studies at Harvard University and I attained my Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. I pursued my M.B.A. at Harvard University. Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types is a multi million-dollar company that employs 40 people including world-renowned organ and tissue culture pioneer, Anthony Atala, MD. Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types is located in Syracuse, New York.

**History of Tissue Culture:**

 * 1878: Claude Bernard proposed that physiological systems of an organism could be maintained in a living system after the death of an organism.
 * 1885: Roux maintained embryonic chick cells in a saline culture.
 * 1897: Loeb demonstrated the survival of cells isolated from blood and connective tissue in serum and plasma.
 * 1903: Jolly observed cell division of salamander leucocytes //in vitro.//
 * 1907: Harrison cultivated frog nerve cells in a lymph clot held by the 'hanging drop' method and observed the growth of nerve fibers //in vitro// for several weeks. He was considered by some as the father of cell culture.
 * 1910: Burrows succeeded in long-term cultivation of chicken embryo cells in plasma clots. He made detailed observations of mitosis.
 * 1911: Lewis and Lewis made the first liquid media consisting of sea water, serum, embryo extract, salts and peptones. They observed limited monolayer growth.
 * 1913: Carrel introduced strict aseptic techniques so that cells could be cultured for long periods.
 * 1916: Rous and Jones introduced proteolytic enzyme trypsin for the subculture of adherent cells.
 * 1923: Carrel and Baker developed 'Carrel' or T-flask as the first specifically designed cell culture vessel. They employed microscopic evaluation of cells in culture.
 * 1927: Carrel and Rivera produced the first viral vaccine (Vaccinia).
 * 1933: Gey developed the roller tube technique.
 * 1940s: The use of the antibiotics, penicillin and streptomycin, in culture medium, decreased the problem of contamination in cell culture.
 * 1948: Earle isolated mouse L fibroblasts, which formed clones from single cells. Fischer developed a chemically defined medium, CMRL 1066.
 * 1952: Gey established a continuous cell line from a human cervical carcinoma known as HeLa (Helen Lane) cells. Dulbecco developed plaque assay for animal viruses using confluent monolayers of cultured cells.
 * 1954: Abercrombie observed contact inhibition: motility of diploid cells in monolayer culture ceases when contact is made with adjacent cells.
 * 1955: Eagle studied the nutrient requirements of selected cells in culture and established the first widely used chemically defined medium.
 * 1961: Hayflick and Moorhead isolated human fibroblasts (WI-38) and showed that they have a finite lifespan in culture.
 * 1964: Littlefield introduced the HAT medium for cell selection.
 * 1965: Ham introduced the first serum-free medium, which was able to support the growth of some cells.
 * 1970s: Recombinant DNA technology (also known as genetic engineering) was developed to express mammalian genes in bacteria.
 * 1975: the production of hybrid cells (known as hybridoma) from the fusion of two or more cells capable of continuous production of a single type of antibody.

**Science Behind Tissue Culture:**
The main purpose of tissue culture is taking cells or tissue out of an organism and growing more of it in a different environment. Tissue culture is common in animal cells and tissue, but can be done in several plants too. The specimen is usually placed in a test tube, petri dish, or a tissue culture container. When doing tissue culture, it is very important to keep a sterile environment, and the workers should be utilizing biohazard suits. Cultures are grown in forms of media with supplements that include glutamine, antibiotics and other supplements to support cell growth; human and animal cell and tissue cultures usually require the addition of fetal bovine serum. Secondly, cells or tissue are taken from an organism, isolated through biomechanical techniques and plated on a culture dish or grown in suspension. The specimen is grown and controlled in incubators with specific heat and humidity, mimicking body conditions. Cells are visualized under various forms of microscopy. The inverted phase microscope is most commonly utilized. Once the size of the tissue or cell is appropriate, it is obtained and the culture product can be manipulated via experiments or transplanted into an organism. Throughout this process, extreme care must be taken to obtain sterility in order to prevent contamination from microorganisms including bacteria, viruses and fungi.

**Pictures of Tissue Culture:**






**Current Uses of Tissue Culture:**
Mass culture of animal cell lines are critical for making vaccines like polio, measles, mumps, chickenpox, rubella and other biotechnology products. Cultured tissue can also be used when someone gets burned to produce skin for transplants; Epicel is a product that is currently produced for burn victims. Carticel and Maci are other products of the Genzyme Corporation, which takes a sample of cartilage cells from the patient and cultures them. The cells and tissues are then re-implanted to fill cartilaginous defects in the patient’s own knee. At Wake Forest University, Dr. Anthony Atala is utilizing tissue culture to engineer bladders for transplantation; he is currently progressing toward the development of other organs, as well. Tissue culture is commonly used in research to find treatments for diseases including cancer and diabetes. Tissue culture techniques are also being applied to plants in order to help save endangered species. Endangered plant species are being saved by culturing a few cells from that plant, and creating more to keep the species alive. Tissue culture is being used not only in the development of plants that have high resistance to diseases and insects, but also in the production of higher yielding fruit and grain crops as well.

**Company's Future Uses of Tissue Culture:**
We have already started to see the benefits of tissue culture, but this science is still in its infancy; there is much work to be done in order to unlock the full potential of this powerful tool. Dr. Anthony Atala has engineered a bladder using tissue culture and Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types is working on engineering more organs and tissues. Eventually, we hope to be able to engineer almost every organ in the body in order to help combat disease and prolong quality of life. We hope to create a cure for cancer and new vaccines to treat a variety of diseases using tissue culture. Our company would also like to save more endangered plant species and create new plant species through selective engineering techniques. We would like to produce more species that will have a greater resistance to diseases and insects; furthermore, our products will produce greater yielding crops to help prevent famine and starvation. We are working on designing novel plants for new and varied fruits and grains to add more variety to our common food sources. Stacy’s Selective Tissue Types will continue to pioneer new tissue culture techniques to better the human condition.

**References:**

 * Atala, Anthony. “Anthony Atala.” InSpine Apr. 2011: 18-19. Print.
 * "BACKGROUNDER: EGG-BASED VS. CELL-BASED INFLUENZA VACCINE PRODUCTION." //Gsk.com//. Web. 21 Jan. 2012.< www.gsk.com/media/flu/tissue_backgrounder.pdf >.
 * "Cell Culture." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. N.D. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. .
 * "Cell Culture." Available: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Cell_Culture_in_a_tiny_Petri_dish.jpg/220px-Cell_Culture_in_a_tiny_Petri_dish.jpg
 * “Cell Culture and Theory Practice.” //Pitt.edu.// N.D. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. .
 * "Cells in Culture." Available: http://media.eurekalert.org/release_graphics/mcog112904_2.jpg
 * Chaudry, Arshad. "The Science Creative Quarterly » CELL CULTURE." //The Science Creative Quarterly//. Aug. 2004. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. .
 * Hill, David. "Growing Human Organs- Dr. Anthony Atala Blows the Minds of a TED Audience." //Singularityhub.com//. 15 Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. < http://singularityhub.com/2011/03/15/growing-human-organs-—-dr-anthony-atala-blows-the-minds-of-a-ted-audience/>.
 * "Overview of the Tissue Culture Process." Available: http://www.sarjanbiotech.com/pcat-gifs/profile/tissue2.jpg
 * "Plant Tissue Culture." Available: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2544/3795735848_47062638e1.jpg
 * "Plant Tissue Culture." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. N.D. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_tissue_culture.
 * Reed, David. "Tissue Culture." //HORT 201 & 202 Home Page//. N.D. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <[]>.
 * Richard, Boyd. "Tissue Culture Techniques." //Monash.edu. N.D.// Web. 21 Jan. 2012.< http://users.monash.edu.au/~malin/Methods/TissueCulture.html>.
 * Rino, Rappuoli. "Cell-Culture-Based Vaccine Production: Technological Options." //Nae.edu//. N.D. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <[]>.
 * "Stained Cells in Culture." Available: http://comp-phys.engin.umich.edu/iutam/img/Epithelial-cells.jpg
 * University of Houston. "Real human bone grown in tissue culture." //ScienceDaily//.com. 9 Dec. 2009. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. < http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209143753.htm>.