[Excerpt] What is Micropropagation? Plant micropropagation is the in vitro multiplication or regeneration of plants on a sterile, nutrient medium under controlled environmental conditions. This technique allows for the rapid, large-scale production of genetically identical, cloned plants. Micropropagation falls under the larger classification of “plant tissue culture. ” This is the art and science of the aseptic culture of plant cells, tissues, organs, protoplasts and whole plants. Explants are removed from live portions of plants and are allowed to grow in vitro on a nutrient medium for extended periods of time. Plant tissue culture is a very popular area of biotechnology and can be used for the rapid propagation of plants (micropropagation), the elimination of viruses and diseases from plants, haploid plant production (anther or pollen culture), protoplast isolation, ovule culture, embryo culture, production of botanical substances, genetic engineering, cell mutation and selection, synthetic seed production and studies in fundamental plant anatomy, development, nutrition and physiology. Tissue culture has become an invaluable tool in the field of experimental plant science because it allows the study of basic problems related to growth and dicerentiation under highly controlled and reproducible conditions.