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What is a cell line?

通过获取特定来源的细胞并引入突变，使其能够无限期地分裂。然后可以将这些“永生”细胞保存在实验室中，为研究基本生物学过程提供方便的框架。他们还提供了一个新型药物临床前测试的平台。

Knowing the exact identity of a cell line is imperative when interpreting the results of an experiment. If you’re testing a drug against breast cancer, for example, then a lung cancer line won’t do.

However, making this distinction isn’t always as simple as peering down a microscope. Different cell types often have similar appearances, allowing an imposter to slip through the net with relative ease.

What’s the problem?

在生物学研究界，细胞系错误识别和交叉污染是地方性的。

在生物学研究界，细胞系错误识别和交叉污染是地方性的。Besides draining time, labor and money (很多钱），这些问题还可以产生错误，人工或不可填充的数据。

The国际细胞线认证委员会（ICLAC）keeps a数据库of over 400 cell lines known to have issues with cross-contamination. In some cases, the intruding cells are derived from an entirely different species (pig cells appearing in human lines, or moth cells in mosquito ones). More worrying is the fact that over 90% of these entries have no evidence ofever一直是真实的。

这可能会对研究人员产生深远的后果，从轻度烦人（不得不丢弃受污染的烧瓶）到灾难性 - 称为较旧的，有时甚至有时甚至发表的数据的有效性。

There have been instances where a case of mistaken identity has compromised entire fields of research. RGC-5 was a cell line used in vision research for over a decade. While the line was believed by many groups – including its founders – to be derived from rat ganglionic cells,later work revealedthem to be photoreceptor cells of mouse origin.

Given the vast biochemical differences between these cell types, this discovery threw shade on the huge body of work that had relied on RGC-5 cells up to that point.Cancer researchis also susceptible to the confounding effects of cell line mix-ups, and some cancer journals now demand cell line authentication as a prerequisite to publication.

How does this happen?

Misidentification of a cell line can arise by various means. One issue – as in many areas of biology – lies with nomenclature. In many cases, a single cell line is known by several different names, or at least variations of the same one (3T3-Swiss Albinovs.3T3 Swiss albino).

即使已经对细胞系进行了身份验证，它在实验室的生命周期中也可能被污染。

This generates vast inconsistencies in the literature that can make it difficult to faithfully reproduce existing data. Accepting cell lines as ‘gifts’ from other laboratories exacerbates this issue considerably, and in fact some scientists have called for this practiceto be scrapped altogetherin favor of purchasing authenticated cell lines from dedicated providers.

即使已经对细胞系进行了身份验证，它在实验室的生命周期中也可能被污染。While this is often attributable to poor culturing techniques, it can also be the consequence of handling different cell lines (and the sera used to grow them) under the same hood, or thawing them in the same water bath.

How can we solve it?

A certain degree of cross-contamination is the inevitable product of human error and the fact that many cell lines are – and, indeed, have to be – exceptionally good at growing. Nevertheless, reducing it to a level where it doesn’t impact on the overall quality of scientific output should be the common goal of all life scientists.

但是如何？身份验证的最可靠方法是寻找遗传特征 - 单核苷酸多态性（SNP） - 将每条细胞系与彼此区分开来。随着SNP基因分型的成本下降和用户友好的“ DIY”套件进入市场，这正成为越来越可行的选择。

However,正如一些作者指出的, there’s also a need for a shift in the collective consciousness of the biological research community. It’s not known how many labs adopt rigorous protocols for authenticating and preserving their cell lines today, but asurvey from 2004indicated that it might be as few as 1 in 3. Even with increasing awareness of the problem, it will take considerable time for these practices to filter down to grass roots.