Cell Fractionation

Cell fractionation is the process of separating cellular components, such as organelles, proteins, and other macromolecules, from the entire cell. The roots of cell fractionation can be traced back to the early days of cell biology when researchers were grappling with the functioning of organelles. The isolation of mitochondria using centrifugation and the revelation of their role in metabolism by scientists like Albert Claude and George Palade in the 1930s and 1940s marked significant milestones. The advent of differential centrifugation, which allowed the separation of organelles based on size and density, and the subsequent development of density gradient centrifugation and ultracentrifugation have refined the technique, making it an indispensable tool in modern cell biology.