Generation of useful cell culture data

As the need for viable and interpretable cell culture systems increases, it is not sufficient to simply be successful at growing cells in vitro. Rather, vigilance is required to obtain repeatable data from these systems, especially if mechanistic or developmental experimental designs are attempted. We suggest that all aspects of basic cell culture are as important as growing cells. We offer the papers of this issue to help the cell scientist scrutinize and identify problems in many of these important areas, including obtaining tissue, eliminating microbial contamination, formulating a defined medium, isolating specific cell types from tissue and then using them for in vitro studies, cloning cells, selecting and developing methods for cell culture analyses, and recognizing abnormal cell culture activity.