| abstract |
A process for treating a person whose bone marrow has been destroyed or has lost its functional ability, which includes the steps of obtaining bone marrow from a donor, replicating the bone marrow cells in vitro, and then reinfusing the replicated marrow cells at a later date. The bone marrows may be cryopreserved before and/or after the replication step. The in vitro bone marrow replication system may also be used to monitor a patient's condition or the cytotoxicity of various agents. Three-dimensional cell culture systems for the growth of at least two layers of cells, for cell types in addition to bone marrow cells, may also be established using a three-dimensional support as a framework. |