The Leeuwenhoek Lecture, 1971 - Tumour viruses and the sociology of fibroblasts

Abstract

Coincident with the more spectacular developments in biology of the last two decades there has quietly emerged a new technology with far-reaching potential, namely the growth and manipulation of animal and plant cells in culture. It has naturally led to an emphasis on homogeneous populations of isolated cells as a step towards simplifying the formidable complexities of even the simplest multicellular tissues. In this way cell culture tends to make microbiologists of us all, followers in the footsteps of Anthony van Leeuwenhoek himself. The microbiological approach is highly productive in the present limited state of knowledge, but will be even more productive if the special properties of metazoan as opposed to protozoan cells can be preserved and analysed. Metazoan cells, in particular, are highly social, and many properties, which may be missed in cultures, are dependent on interactions between the cells. These may be either long range, mediated for example by hormones circulating widely in body fluids, but with high specificity for certain target cells, or short range, at nerve synapses for example, or in growth following wounds.