Slowly, I've been settling down at the lab I've chosen to work in for my thesis. The last couple of weeks I've been reading too many papers to count and formulating The Project and making sure I have all my bases covered. Just the controls themselves make me want to cross my eyes. And like any other project, there is always an element of risk, that what you find might not be of any significance at all. That's why I have The Backup Project.
Recently, I've been trying to figure out what cell line to use. Of course, I found my answer in the primary literature. But for those of you who don't know about any cell lines let alone the famous HeLa cells or more controversial human stem cells, there's a whole list online at the Cell Line Database.
Rabid bioethicists can breathe a sigh a relief, though. The Project won't be using any sort of stem cells at all. This line is more akin to HeLa cells, although not really. I'll just say that these cells originally came from a 37-year-old Caucasian male during the 1970's. (I wonder who this guy really was, what he did, how he would feel about donating his cancerous cells to science. But of course I don't know what he would say. He's probably not around anymore.)
Cancerous cell lines can't guarantee any sort of results though, even if they're human. It's their very nature--a cancerous cell has many genes mutated in order for it to become virtually immortal and a side result is that they display undifferentiated characteristics. Down the line, the cells of an actual blood donor should be used just so I know the results aren't due to an artificial cell line. The funny thing is, this very point makes me feel like Dr. Jekyll. If nobody donated their blood for science, I'd have my own blood drawn to be used in my experiments.
That wouldn't be particularly objective, but there are things you've got to do no matter the obstacle.
