[paphioboy]

First, to clarify something. Do you wish to discuss the process of germinating seeds on a sterile medium like agar, or tissue culture, where a small piece of tissue from the apical meristem is repeatedly grown and chopped up to obtain hundreds of plants that are genetically identical..? These 2 processes are similar, but not the same.

In the first process (germinating seed), all that we are doing is using a sterile medium instead of a natural one like moss, to ensure higher rate of germination. This is a common practice for some plants with very very tiny seeds that are usually symbiotic with a fungus (like orchids), as the agar medium can be tailored to the plant's needs.

Tissue culture means replicating the mother plant and producing hundreds of copies that are essentially the same (genetically). The apical meristem (the tissue which gives rise to new leaves) or even the root meristem tissue can be used. It is cut and placed into a flask of agar containing hormones and placed on a shaker. The blob of tissue then forms a callus, which looks like a small piece of moss. This anti-gravity environment promotes growth of the callus, but shoots and roots do not develop. This is chopped up again and reflasked. Then when there is enough tissue to produce the number of plants needed, the shaker is stopped. The effect of gravity causes leaves and roots to emerge and the clones can be grown on to adult size.