Viability of Isolated Nuclei

Amoeba proteus has been used with some success in studies of nuclear and cytoplasmic activities where transfer of the nuclei from one cell to another, or comparative studies of anucleate and nucleate cells, allow separation of the activities 1,2 . This technique, however, answers many questions only partially, for it has been impossible to observe the behaviour of nuclei in the absence of cytoplasm. We report here an initial investigation to obtain a medium in which nuclei can be isolated for short periods without damage.