ARTIFICIAL MAINTENANCE MEDIA FOR CELL AND ORGAN CULTIVATION : II. THE CULTIVATION OF ORGANS IN ARTIFICIAL MEDIA.

Experiments have been described in which organs cultivated in the Lindbergh apparatus have been kept alive in artificial media for periods ranging from 3 days to 3 weeks, with life continuing in portions of some glands for from 35 to 62 days. The media used varied in composition from very simple and inexpensive ones in which some serum was used to a rather complex medium containing only that negligible amount of serum that is necessary as a solvent for vitamin A. The experiments performed demonstrate that artificial media can be used for organ cultivation, thus making it possible to study the behavior of human organs; to control the composition of the media at will; and to reduce the cost of experimentation.