Laboratories of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York.
J Exp Med. 1912 May 1;15(5):516-28. doi: 10.1084/jem.15.5.516.
In two series of experiments made at the end of 1911 and at the beginning of 1912, new techniques were developed with the view of investigating the problem of prolonging indefinitely the life of tissues isolated from the organism. These techniques are far from perfect and will doubtless be modified in the future. But they have already permitted the establishment of new facts. Fragments of connective tissue have been kept in vitro in a condition of active life for more than two months. As a few cultures are now eighty-five days old and are growing very actively, it is probable that, if no accident occurs, the life of these cultures will continue for a long time. In some cases the rate of growth of the tissues increased in direct ratio to the age of the culture. Fragments of heart pulsated rhythmically at the beginning of the third month of their life in vitro. These facts show that experiments made with these or with more perfect techniques and followed over long periods of time may lead to the solution of the problem of permanent life of tissues in vitro, and give important information on the characters acquired by tissues liberated from the control of the organism from which they were derived.
在 1911 年底和 1912 年初进行的两系列实验中，开发了新技术，以期研究将从生物体中分离出来的组织的寿命无限延长的问题。这些技术远非完美，未来无疑会进行修改。但它们已经允许建立新的事实。已经将结缔组织片段在体外保持在活跃的生活状态超过两个月。由于现在有几个培养物已经 85 天并且生长非常活跃，因此，如果没有意外发生，这些培养物的寿命可能会持续很长时间。在某些情况下，组织的生长速度与培养物的年龄成正比。心脏组织的片段在体外生活的第三个月开始有节奏地跳动。这些事实表明，使用这些技术或更完善的技术进行的实验，并在长时间内进行跟踪，可能会解决组织在体外永久存活的问题，并为从其来源生物体中释放出来的组织获得的特性提供重要信息。
