What are the differences between tissue culture and cell culture?

In biology the term cell culture and tissue culture are often used interchangeably. Both involve the removal of cells, tissue or organs from an animal or plant, for their subsequent growth on a culture medium under aseptic and controlled conditions. However, there are a few striking differences. For instance, the duration it takes to culture cells versus tissues varies. Cell cultures can take as little as 1 day to as long as few weeks depending upon the cell type (i.e. neurons can take 3 to 6 weeks to culture).Tissues take significantly longer to culture, with plant tissue cultures taking as long as 14 weeks or more to propagate. Another difference is that some cell lines are ‘immortal’ (e.g. HeLa cells) and can divide indefinitely in cell culture as long as the proper conditions are satisfied.

Also depending upon the sample type different culture requirement and experimental conditions – type of culture media, supplemental nutrients, humidity, osmolality, cell density, incubation times, temperature, etc. – will need to be carefully optimized.