There are a few factors to consider when comparing in vitro and in vivo work. Now that we’ve gone over the definitions and explored some examples, you may be wondering if there are pros or cons to using one over the other. Additionally, bacteria can evolve to be resistant against antibiotics.Īlthough bacterial infections occur on or in our bodies, antibiotic sensitivity testing often occurs within a laboratory setting (in vitro). There are many types, or classes, of antibiotics and some bacteria are more sensitive to some classes than others. They do this by disrupting the bacteria’s ability to grow or thrive. Antibiotic sensitivityĪntibiotics are medications that work to treat bacterial infections. The egg is then fertilized in a laboratory and implanted back into the uterus.īecause fertilization occurs within a laboratory environment and not within the body (in vivo), the procedure is referred to as in vitro fertilization. In IVF, one or more eggs are removed from an ovary. IVF is a type of treatment for infertility. You’ve likely heard of in vitro fertilization (IVF). ISH allows the researcher to observe where a nucleic acid is located within its natural context, yet outside of a living organism. This allows the researcher to see where the nucleic acid is located within the tissue sample. These probes are tagged with things like radioactivity or fluorescence. Specialized probes are used to bind to a specific nucleic acid sequence that the researcher is looking to find. ISH can be used to look for a specific nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) within something like a tissue sample. A good example of this is a technique called in situ hybridization (ISH). In situ methods can be used to observe things in their natural context, yet outside of a living organism.

In this case, the work is taking place inside a living organism. When a study is performed in vivo, it can include things like performing experiments in an animal model, or in a clinical trial in the case of humans. Although this can provide a controlled environment for an experiment, it occurs outside of a living organism and results must be considered carefully. In vitro methods used in a laboratory can often include things like studying bacterial, animal, or human cells in culture. In some cases, researchers may use multiple methods to test their hypothesis. In vitro, in vivo, or in situ methods are used in scientific studies. Now that we’ve defined these terms, let’s explore some real-life examples of them.

Transformer en vivo