Corning to Honor Industry's 100th Anniversary of Cell Culture

Corning's year-long celebration will provide members of the life sciences community with access to various historical and educational resources, as well as modern-day product and best-practice information.



"For nearly the entire history of cell culture, Corning has supplied cell-culture researchers with the products needed to grow their cells, including tissue culture dishes, microplates, roller bottles, flasks and CellSTACK® culture chambers," said Maryanne DeChambeau, targeted marketing manager, Corning Life Sciences. "As a leader in the field, we felt this major milestone in cell culture was an ideal opportunity to educate the market about its esteemed history, the miraculous drugs and vaccines that have resulted and the researchers and technologies that made it all possible."



During 2007, Corning will provide dedicated content on its Web site that spotlights researchers and product developments associated with the 100-year history of cell culture. Additionally, Corning will offer anniversary promotions and contests, and incorporate numerous cell culture topics and historic features into its existing Scientific Seminar Series. The seminars are free online technical sessions that researchers can attend to gain tips and best practice information about growing and working with cells.



Corning is constantly developing new products and technologies to meet tomorrow's needs for better research and production tools. The company is currently exploring and/or involved with new technologies for growing cells, artificial organs and tissues, new cell-based drugs and vaccines, and stem cell technologies.



Recent examples include the Corning Epic® system, the industry's first high-throughput, label-free screening platform for both biochemical and cell-based drug discovery applications, and culture vessels with the new Corning® CellBIND® and Ultra-Web™ synthetic surfaces, which provide new substrates for researchers who are developing applications such as stem-cell-based therapeutics or replacement tissues and organs.



Major Corning milestones and firsts throughout the history of cell culture include:



1915: Introduction of PYREX® glass

1923: Alexis Carrel develops first cell-culture flasks from PYREX glass

1954: Polio virus for Salk's vaccine grown in PYREX 5L Povitsky bottles

1974: Introduction of first plastic canted-neck flasks

1974: 15mL and 50mL disposable centrifuge tubes in racks

1975: One-piece plastic roller bottles

1983: Opticell ceramic-matrix bioreactors

1989: CellCube® stacked plate bioreactors

1994: Ultra-low-attachment surface culture vessels

2003: Corning® CellBIND® surface culture vessels

2004: RoboFlask™ vessels

2005: Disposable spinner flasks

2007: Low-profile flasks

2007: HYPERFlask™ cell-culture vessels



"For the past 100 years, cell culture research has resulted in drugs and vaccines that have made a profound impact well beyond the walls of labs and research facilities," said John Ryan, technical marketing manager, Corning Life Sciences. "We are proud to be such an active contributor to the history of cell culture and are pleased that our work extends into the lives of people around the world."



Corning Life Sciences helps customers succeed by providing innovative, high-quality products and service in the areas of polymer science, biochemistry and molecular biology, glass melting and forming, surface modification and characterization science.