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Why would a particular microbe need to be cultured inside an animal?

Standard laboratory culture techniques have proven inadequate.
The microbe can grow slower inside an animal.
It allows researchers to simultaneously observe the pathogenic effects of the microbe.
The microbe becomes more pathogenic when grown inside a live animal host.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

Certain microbes, such as viruses or obligate intracellular bacteria, require being cultured inside an animal host due to their specific growth requirements. Studying their pathogenic effects and host immune system responses can be achieved through this approach.

Step-by-step explanation:

Growing a particular microbe inside an animal can be necessary when standard laboratory culture techniques have proven inadequate. For certain microbes, such as viruses or bacteria that are obligate intracellular pathogens, they can only grow when inside a host cell. Culturing these microbes inside an animal allows researchers to observe their pathogenic effects and understand how the host immune system responds. It also provides a way to study the proliferation of bacteria and viruses in animal hosts, which has been crucial in microbiological research.

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