What technique can be employed to differentiate between live and dead cells in a culture?

Staining techniques are effective for differentiating between live and dead cells in a culture because they typically involve the use of specific dyes that can penetrate only compromised or dead cell membranes. For example, a common method is the use of trypan blue or propidium iodide, which stain dead cells, allowing for their visualization under a microscope. Live cells will typically exclude these dyes, remaining unstained, which makes it easy to determine cell viability within a sample.

This approach is practical and widely used in biological research and clinical settings to assess cell health. In contrast, other methodologies may not provide a clear distinction between living and dead cells. For instance, using a colorimeter for turbidity measures the cloudiness of a culture but does not provide information about the viability of the cells. Similarly, applying heat to the culture can kill cells indiscriminately and is not a reliable method for viability assessment. Electronic counters may provide quantitative data on cell concentration but lack the ability to discern living from dead cells without an accompanying staining technique.