What is Cell Viability?
Cell viability is a determination of living or dead cells, based on a total cell sample. Cell viability measurements may be used to evaluate the death or life of cancerous cells and the rejection of implanted organs. In other applications cell viability tests might calculate the effectiveness of a pesticide or insecticide, or evaluate environmental damage due to toxins. Since everything living is made up of cells, cell viability counts have a tremendous number of applications. Testing for cell viability usually involves looking at a sample cell population and staining the cells or applying chemicals to show which are living and which are dead. There are numerous tests and methods for measuring cell viability. When a sample is stained with various dyes or treated with chemicals, it is then subject to microscopic examination to evaluate cell viability. These measurements can be used to evaluate the effectiveness or lack thereof of certain treatments to cells. The dyes or testing measurem
List several techniques used to determine cell viability. (Hint: What is trypan blue used for?) Where does red fluorescent protein (RFP) come from? What are the optimal excitation and emission wavelengths for RFP? Hint: search for fluorescent protein. If you plan to use ImageJ on your own computer, you may want to download it and install it. It is written in Java. If you have problems with Java get the free Java platform from SUN (standard edition). If you plan to record images from your own camera in the future, you may want to follow additionally the TWAIN installation notes. ImageJ is a derivative of NIH image. Note: Be sure to bring something to save image files with you to the lab (zip disk, memory stick, or CD-RW).
Cell viability is a determination of living or dead cells, based on a total cell sample. Cell viability measurements may be used to evaluate the death or life of cancerous cells and the rejection of implanted organs. In other applications cell viability tests might calculate the effectiveness of a pesticide or insecticide, or evaluate environmental damage due to toxins.
