Author
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LYNN, DWIGHT |
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Submitted to: International Conference on Invertebrate Cell and Tissue Culture
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2004 Publication Date: 6/1/2004 Citation: Lynn, D.E. 2004. Molecular engineering and biology of invertebrate cell cultures: summary and conclusions. International Conference on Invertebrate Cell and Tissue Culture. Vol. #55 (1) pg. 26-32 Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: This session was in honor of Dr. Thomas D. C. Grace and Prof. Shangyin Gao and has shown how far we have come since their historic papers on the long term maintenance and establishment of cell lines from insects. Dr. Grace focused on ovarian tissue to create his continuous lines and while Prof. Shangyin initiated primary cultures from a variety of tissues, the longest surviving/subcultivable cells also were from reproductive tissue. In the four and a half decades since their early successes, well over 500 continuous insect cell lines have been developed from a variety of insect species and tissues. As more material has become available, the diversity of uses has also grown. Since the earliest days, insect cells have been used to study insect viruses which, in addition to providing a means to study and produce these biocontrol agents, also led to the development of the baculovirus expression vector. The virus research, in turn, has driven studies on cell biology and pathobiology so that we know much more about the events regulating cell death and pathogenesis. We've also learned how to manipulate the cells so that the products, such as proteins from expression vectors, have a greater biological activity or so we can create long-term stably transformed cultures. Additionally, we have branched out to other invertebrates and expanded our scope for discovery of new uses for the technology originally initiated by Dr. Grace and Prof. Shangyin. |
