Find out what it’s like to work in a cell culture laboratory. Learn how to use the aseptic technique to avoid contamination of your cells, and discover what it takes to keep them alive.
Professional
High School
University / College
Did you know there are approximately 37 trillion cells in your body? In the Cell Culture Basics simulation, you will learn how to culture cells in a controlled environment. You will perform the different steps to keep them healthy by using a standard cell culture protocol for eukaryotic cells. For this purpose, you will also learn the aseptic technique.
Provide an extra vial of cells
In the Cell Culture Basics simulation, your lab assistant, Dr. One, is working on finding promising treatments for skin cancer. She is performing an experiment where she is using fibroblasts, but to complete the experiment, she needs more cells. Your goal is therefore to help her with the cell culture to grow more cells and store a vial for future tests.
Perform a cell culture passage
During the Cell Culture Basics lab, you will learn what the ideal physical and chemical conditions to grow eukaryotic cells are. You will also prepare the reagents needed to support the growth of cells. You will work in a biosafety cabinet and discover how to use the aseptic technique to avoid any undesired contamination in your cell culture.
Watch your cells grow—fast
Unlike in a real lab, you don’t need to wait for hours and hours to see how the fibroblasts you seed will grow. Instead, in this virtual simulation, you can fast-forward the process and make it grow in just a couple of seconds! You can use a phase contrast microscope to visualize your cell culture and identify different cell morphologies. When your cells have reached the desired growth, you will use trypsin to unravel the secrets of a cell culture passage.
Analyze cell viability and freeze cells
As your final task in the Cell Culture Basics simulation, you will analyze the viability of your cell culture using the Trypan blue exclusion stain and an automatic cell counter. After that, you will prepare a new vial of cells to be cryopreserved using DMSO as a cryopreservation agent.
Will you be able to provide a vial of healthy cells for the cancer research experiments?
Length:
61
mins
Accessibility mode:
Available
Languages:
English (United States)
Spanish
German
French
Italian
At the end of this simulation, you will be able to:
Apply the aseptic technique and other good laboratory practices in a cell culture lab
Describe the minimum requirements to have an adequate cell environment that supports cell growth
Describe and perform the key steps when working with mammalian cells in vitro: thawing and plating; cell passaging; cell cryopreservation
Correctly use a biosafety cabinet and an automated cell counter
At the end of this simulation, you will be able to:
University
NGSS
IB
AP
Engage students in science through interactive learning scenarios. Simulate experiments, train lab techniques, and teach theory through visual experiences that enhance long-term learning outcomes.
300+ Web-based simulations that can be played on laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets/iPads without installing any software
Teacher dashboard to automate grading and track student progress
Embedded quizzes to help students master science content
Library of learning resources, lab reports, videos, theory pages, graphics and more
Elevate your nursing program with UbiSim, a VR solution dedicated to clinical excellence.
Track student progress
Assess with embedded quiz questions
Invite your students to play simulations
Explore over 300 Labster simulations
30 days for free, no credit card needed
Labster integrates with all major LMS (Learning Management Systems) so that educators can use their gradebooks to track students’ performance data and students can keep a record of their work. Labster is compatible with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Google Classroom, Schoology, Sakai, and Brightspace / D2L. It’s also possible to use Labster without an LMS.
