Successful culture of primary cells requires obtaining a maximum yield of functionally viable single cells from whole tissues. The primary factors that affect successful dissociation of whole tissue have to do with tissue origin, species, age of the animal, the dissociation medium and enzyme(s) used, the amount of impurities in any crude enzyme preparation, the concentration(s) of enzyme(s), and the temperature and incubation times. While factors dealing with type of tissue and species cannot be controlled, conditions associated with tissue dissociation are manageable.