A Low Temperature Ball-mill for the Liberation of Labile Cellular Products

Abstract

The problem of disintegration of cells and tissues for the purpose of liberating intracellular substances arises in many fields. It has become increasingly apparent, particularly in the field of bacteriology, that classical methods to this end have been only partially successful, and that many of the products obtained have been in reality artefacts, degradation products of the more complex and biologically active substances present in the intact cells. A short time ago, an article by one of us (E. J. C.) appeared in Science, in which the extraction of labile bacterial antigen by disruption of the lyophile-dried bacterial cells at low temperature (1) was described. This method utilized liquid air to bring the bacteria to a temperature beyond a critical point at which the dry bacteria become brittle and are easily disrupted by mechanical agitation with a mortar and pestle.