Final answer:
Normal tissue used for viral growth taken from animals and prepared in a culture medium is termed a primary culture. These are short-lived cultures requiring solid support, mimicking in vivo conditions, and are crucial for various scientific and medical applications.
Step-by-step explanation:
Normal tissue taken from animals and prepared immediately as media for viral growth is termed a primary culture. This culturing method involves extracting cells from animal tissues and allowing them to grow on a solid support, such as plastic or glass, within culture media. This medium provides the necessary nutrients, hormones, and other factors required for the in vitro growth and maintenance of the cells, thereby creating an environment akin to that which the cells would experience within the animal body.
The primary culture is important because it maintains the original characteristics of the cells, which makes them ideal for various scientific purposes like virus cultivation, research studies, and vaccine production. However, a primary culture has a limited lifespan due to contact inhibition, whereby cells will cease to divide once they make contact with other cells. At this point, cells would need to be transferred or subcultured to fresh growth medium in order to maintain growth, leading to what is called a secondary cell culture.