Methods in cell separation for biomedical application: cryogels as a new tool.

The analysis and separation of cells including rare cell populations from a heterogeneous population has become an important tool in scientific research and medicine. The last two decades have seen tremendous progress in the field of cell separation, as a result of which various methods have been available which utilize different physiochemical and immunological characteristics of cells. A brief overview of methods of cell separation used in the past and a detailed description of methods being used presently as well as prospective methods are discussed in the paper. Chromatography has come into the picture as the apparent solution for the limitations of various cell separation methods. In recent years, a new and promising affinity-based cell separation chromatography technique has been developed using highly interconnected supermacroporous cryogels, and this new method is discussed in detail. Due to the importance and relevance of cell-based therapy and stem cell separation in the present scenario, cryogels present a new tool for preparative scale cell separation.