SOME PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL FACTORS AFFECTING IN VITRO GROWTH OF EMBRYONIC RAT BONE

The effects of various physical and chemical factors have been investigated on 17-day rat tibiae grown in vitro in terms of increase in length and wet weight. The interaction of the grid, explant and medium was shown to be significant and both growth criteria were slightly dependent on the frequency of changing the media. Experiments were conducted to obtain maximal responses when varying amounts of glucose, ascorbic acid and sodium bicarbonate were added to the basic medium. It was found that maximal responses were obtained when 5 mg/ml glucose, 70 μg/ml ascorbic acid and 0.22 mg/ml of sodium bicarbonate were added to the medium 199. Growth on the new composite medium was shown to be comparable to that obtained by other workers on various media. Some conclusions are drawn regarding the accuracy of organ culture systems designed to study problems other than those concerned with the biochemical relationship between the medium and the explant. © 1968.