On the Permanent Life of Tissues Outside of the Organism

Abstract

In two series of experiments made at the end of 1911 and at the beginning of 1912, new techniques were developed with the view of investigating the problem of prolonging indefinitely the life of tissues isolated from the organism. These techniques are far from perfect and will doubtless be modified in the future. But they have already permitted the establishment of new facts. Fragments of connective tissue have been kept in vitro in a condition of active life for more than two months. As a few cultures are now eighty-five days old and are growing very actively, it is probable that, if no accident occurs, the life of these cultures will continue for a long time. In some cases the rate of growth of the tissues increased in direct ratio to the age of the culture. Fragments of heart pulsated rhythmically at the beginning of the third month of their life in vitro. These facts show that experiments made with these or with more perfect techniques and followed over long periods of time may lead to the solution of the problem of permanent life of tissues in vitro, and give important information on the characters acquired by tissues liberated from the control of the organism from which they were derived.

Animal‐cell culture media: History, characteristics, and current issues

“…He successfully cultivated chicken embryonic cells by using chicken blood plasma, which is readily available,17 and later successfully cultivated mammalian cells as well 18. In 1912, Carrel demonstrated that the long‐term cultivation of the cells that have been obtained from the connective tissues of chick fetuses is possible (for several months) with a periodic exchange of the medium 19. In 1913, he discovered that adding embryonic extract to blood plasma can dramatically increase cellular proliferation and extend the culture period of fibroblasts from the chick embryo heart 20, 21.…”

We heart cultured hearts. A comparative review of methodologies for targeted differentiation and maintenance of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent and multipotent stem cells

“…It is easy to imagine the fascination that the idea of the maintenance of a living organ outside the body held for them, as it was believed at the time that the 'freshness' of the explanted organ and the skill of the surgical team were the crucial factors for the success of a transplantation. Burrows and Carrel observed that explants from embryonic chicken hearts placed in nutrient medium would continue pulsating rhythmically for days [4,6]. They also reported that that single cells would become detached from the bulk of the tissue, move actively away from it and grow into the nutrient medium.…”

Cytogerontology since 1881: A reappraisal of August Weismann and a review of modern progress

“…During the 1880s, opposition to his view was expressed by G6tte (1883) and Offprint requests to: T. B. L. Kirkwood by Vines (1889), who founded their criticisms on what can now be seen as largely semantic issues concerning the definitions of cell death and immortality. More important, however, than any theoretical objection to Weismann's hypothesis was the claim by Carrel (1912) and his co-worker Ebeling (1913) that they could culture somatic chicken cells and tissue outside the donor organism indefinitely. This claim, which generated remarkable and sustained popular interest (see review by Witkowski 1980), would almost certainly have suppressed further interest in Weismann's apparently false prediction.…”