Alexis Carrel and the Mysticism of Tissue Culture

Abstract

Aleis Carrel was one of the pioneers of tissue culture and its chief publicist. He was largely responsible for the early development of the technique, but although he made a number of practical contributions, it was his influence on his contemporaries that was particularly significant. Carrel's tissue culture techniques were based on his surgical expertise and they became increasingly complicated procedures. Contemporary opinion of his work was that the methods were extremely difficult, an opinion enhanced by the emphasis Carrel himself laid on the problems of tissue culture techniques. Because of his flair for publicity, Carrel's views dominated the field and led to a decline in interest in tissue culture which persisted for many years after he ceased tissue culture studies. © 1979, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.