Question

What does a culture medium provide to a living cell?

Answer 1

Hint: The culture medium is like a safehouse for a living cell where it is safe from all the attacks and adverse conditions of the environment and other factors which might hamper the growth of the living cell.

Complete answer:
The culture medium is a closed medium which is freed from microorganisms usually by sterilization and then several nutrients in an exact known quantity are placed into the medium which are necessary for the growth and development of the living cell. It is placed in a solution, mainly of agar and is hence a culture medium for the cell.
The cell is quite rich in plant as well as animal tissues extract which might be yeast extract or even peptides. The culture medium is hence also known as a nutrient broth or a nutrient medium. In a general setup, the culture medium has the following:
1. A base solution, such as agar
2. A carbon source, for example glucose
3. Different types of salts
4. Water
a source of amino acids and nitrogen, for example, meat extract or yeast extract. The content of such a media is not known in all respects as the amino acids have several constituents.

Note:
The nutrient media are of several types and are mostly in the form of a semisolid material, with ample supply of water. These nutrient media can be in the form of a transport media, a minimal media, selective media, differential media, transport media or an indicator media.