Insect Cell- Culture Techniques in Serum- Containing Medium

Almost 50 years ago, Grace reported the successful establishment of continuous cell lines from insects that were without defined biological and biophysical parameters (1 ). Since that time, the minimal distinctive parameters for the establishment, maintenance, and manipulation of invertebrate cell cultures have been identified and optimized (2 , 3 ). The establishment of new lines is now routine, and the culture of hundreds of cell lines from a variety of insect species have to date been reported (2 , 4 , 5 , 6 ). During the last 10 years, genetic engineering has revolutionized insect cell culture and baculo virology; this technology has become the method of choice for production of a variety of recombinant proteins of medical and agricultural importance (7 , 8 ). These scientific events have renewed previous interest in using cell culture for production of baculovirus for viral pesticides (9 – 14 ).