A cell that is found in a natural setting, which includes multicellular organism cells 'in vivo' (i.e. part of an organism), and unicellular organisms 'in environment' (i.e. part of a natural environment). [ http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CARO_mah ]
Term information
_upper_level
To accommodate unicellular organisms better, 'cell in vivo' has been re-labeled 'native cell' to better represent its intended meaning - that is, that it is a cell in the context of a multicellular organism or in a natural environment. 'Native' is intended to contrast with 'in vitro', which refers to cells or other biological entities that have been intentionally placed in a controlled, non-natural setting for the purpose of study or manipulation. (MAH 1.12.12).