Author: Mike Stone

“Many clinically relevant viruses are simply difficult to grow or cannot be grown at all in cultured cells, while other viruses require specialized culture systems that are either not available or too complicated for routine use in diagnostic laboratories. Traditional tube cultures, although viewed as being comprehensive in growing a wide range of viruses and… Continue reading The Case Against Cell Cultures

“Cytopathic effect (CPE), structural changes in a host cell resulting from viral infection. CPE occurs when the infecting virus causes lysis (dissolution) of the host cell or when the cell dies without lysis because of its inability to reproduce.” https://www.britannica.com/science/cytopathic-effect I’ve already gone through some of the various factors (bacteria, amoeba, parasites, chemical additives) which can be… Continue reading Creating the Cytopathic Effect

“Barbara McClintock might be surprised to learn how well recent discoveries support her hypotheses. Her experiments of 60 years ago led her to propose that cells under environmental stress activate transposable elements in order to restructure the cell genome (McClintock, 1984).“ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276507004510 It is well known that cells under stress change and adapt due to… Continue reading Sub-Culturing and Cell Culture Adaptations

Another area of concern in regards to cell cultures is environmental contamination. This kind of contamination is impossible to avoid as the potential sources are everywhere. This can occur from the plastic dishes used during cultures, from the purity of the water used, unintentional effects from certain light sources, or even from cleaning the incubators… Continue reading Environmental Contamination

While I have already done a post breaking down some of the sources of contamination in cell cultures, I wanted to present even more information on this subject as it is crucial to hammering home how invalid this method truly is. The process itself is the very opposite of purification (free of contaminants) and isolation… Continue reading The Unwanted: Cell Culture Contaminants

“Lack of reproducibility of scientific experiments is a pervasive issue that affects cell culture work due to the plethora of uncontrollable components used in these systems.” “FBS and other serums have the potential to greatly impact the quality and reproducibility of cell-culture work. The role of FBS should be elevated, given the significant impact its… Continue reading The Unethical use of Fetal Bovine Serum

Cell Culture Media is arguably the most important component in the culture beyond the type of cell used. This is a liquid or gel that is said to contain all the various vitamins and micronutrients needed for the cell to survive. They are typically listed in studies under the names Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM)… Continue reading Cell Culture Media

Cell cultures are the main method for “virus isolation” and are considered the gold standard even in the face of improving technology: “With the recent advances in technology, cell culture is considered a gold standard for virus isolation.” A typical cell culture consists of taking a sample from a sick person (called the isolate even… Continue reading The Cytopathic Effect

The ability to reproduce the experimental results of others is a hallmark of science. It is part of the checks and balances process and is a surefire way to know one is on the right track when the results of a study can not only be replicated by the same team but also reproduced and… Continue reading The Reproducibility Crisis in Cell Culture

There is an underlying issue for cell cultures that goes beyond the lack of purification and proper isolation of particles assumed to be “virus” as well as the toxic nature of the chemicals used in “growing” them. This is in regards to the unnatural environments used to culture the cells in. What is most often… Continue reading 2D or not, 3D? That is the Question…

“In addition, passage in cell culture can result in artificial mutations in the sequences, which were not present in the original clinical sample. This can have major implications for subsequent analyses. Using cell culture solely for the purpose of amplifying virus genetic material for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing should therefore be avoided“ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1326052/retrieve&ved=2ahUKEwi9i5ql-M7xAhUJnGoFHQvEBaIQFjADegQICBAC&usg=AOvVaw0gjHudaoThq3mU1JVxALpd The above statement comes… Continue reading Passage in Vero Cells: The Variant Game

“Evidence suggests that up to one-third of tumor cell lines being used in scientific research are affected by inter- or intraspecies cross-contamination or have been wrongly identified, thereby rendering many of the conclusions doubtful if not completely invalid.” — Lancet Oncology, vol. 2, July 2001, p. 393 Cell line misidentification is a huge problem in… Continue reading Cell Line Misidentification

Antibiotics such as Penicillin-streptomycin are commonly used in cell cultures in order to control bacterial contamination. However, it has become increasingly clear that they have various unwanted effects on the cells as well as any results obtained from the cell culture experiments. A few excerpts from a 2017 study shows us that little is known… Continue reading The Effects of Antibiotics on Cell Cultures

One of the most overlooked problems in regards to cell cultures and the reliability of the results obtained from them is the issue of misidentification resulting from contamination. It is a well-known issue and easily leads to false results built upon false results: Consequences of cell culture contamination “Contaminants can affect all cell characteristics (e.g.… Continue reading Cell Line Misidentification and Contamination

These are the guidelines for Viral Transport Media for “SARS-COV-2” put forth by the CDC. Note that this was put out there to provide a standard to follow as an alternative to commercially available products which means that the VTM is not standardized across all laboratories. They even allow alterations as long as it is… Continue reading “SARS-COV-2” VTM Guidelines

Viral Transport Media is used to “preserve” a “virus” after the sample has been taken from the sick person. It is intended to keep the “virus” in a stable condition while it is transported to laboratories in order to be tested, cultured, sequenced, etc. Looking at two of the original “SARS-COV-2” papers for what was… Continue reading Viral Transport Media

“Cell culture relies on the assumption that the behavior of cells in vitro is fundamentally similar to their behavior as part of a tissue within an organ of a multicellular organism.” Is it time to reinvent basic cell culture medium? (physiology.org) When virologists claim they have isolated a “virus,” they do not mean that they… Continue reading The Cell Cuture Problem