What is Tissue Culture?

Tissue Culture is the process of replicating cells in a sterile environment. Typically this is done in glass containers. The plant cells are placed in or on a nutrient rich media: liquid, semi-liquid or solid (agar). Many times this process is called 'in vitro' culture.

• Agar is a jelly like substance with nutrients for the plant cells to pull from as they multiply.   

In the picture above you can see the plants are growing in agar, the translucent media at the base of the container.

There are several parts of the plant that can be considered a culture or starting point. This includes, shoots, nodes, roots, callus, single cells, seeds and embryo. Many factors go into whether or not the plant cells will replicate, including chemicals, viability of the plant parts, maintained sterile environment and the growing media. 

Check out this biology discussion to see more.