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October 2021 Share

Mouse B Cell Enrichment: How to Culture Isolated Mouse B Cells The primary function of B cells is antibody production. They are called B cells because they mature in the bone marrow, while T cells mature in the thymus. Receptors on the surface of a B cell bind to foreign antigens and develop antibodies that suppress that specific pathogen. Understanding more about how B cells work can provide insight into …

March 2021 Share

Researchers and scientists around the world have long theorized that the inherent directional systems in various animals (including migratory animals like birds, butterflies, whales, and possibly even humans) could have a magnetic component – that internal navigational impulses are related in some way to Earth’s magnetic field. While this has been a long-standing theory, the underlying cellular mechanisms that support the ability of an organism to detect magnetic field to …

March 2021 Share

Cell Dissociation Methods Research is undertaken step by step, and cutting corners provides inaccurate results. It’s important to follow proper protocol from beginning to end to ensure the highest quality findings possible. When working with cells of any kind (immune cells, tumor cells, etc.) the first step is always to collect the desired cell sample from the host tissue. Dissociation, sometimes called disaggregation, involves the breaking down of a cell …

March 2021 Share

COVID-19 Reinfection In January 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the first domestic case of COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Soon after, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, spreading at exponential rates and drastically altering the world as we knew it. After more than a year of research and experiments, we’ve begun to learn more about the mechanisms of this coronavirus variant, and how …

March 2021 Share

  Saliva-based tests can simplify, accelerate, and increase the availability of COVID-19 testing – and potentially lead to better patient outcomes.   The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause illness across the world, but there is hope on the horizon as improved testing, treatments, and vaccines make their way to the global population. With the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations, however, it is more important than ever that testing …

February 2021 Share

What is an mRNA Vaccine? Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is genetic material that acts as instructions for cells to develop proteins. An mRNA vaccine harnesses the productive capabilities of mRNA to build up immunities by subjecting the body to proteins that will be recognizable in the future if naturally exposed to a virus. How do mRNA Vaccines Work? While most vaccines contain a weakened or inactive infectious pathogen, mRNA vaccines …

February 2021 Share

What is Cell Clumping? When working with single-suspension cell cultures in a growth medium, it is not uncommon to experience cell loss in a sample. As cells are ruptured, they release DNA and debris that cause cells to aggregate into large clumps that make it difficult for them to expand. Cell clumping can both lead to and be caused by cell apoptosis, or cell death.  As more cells die and …

February 2021 Share

Isolating Cell Cultures from a Medium The process of culturing cells involves the introduction of a host population to a growth medium, allowing the population to reproduce quickly in a nutrient-rich environment. After enough cells have spawned to satisfy the requirements of the intended experiment, those same cells need to be removed from the cell culture medium. The cells are intertwined within the substance in which they multiplied and need …

February 2021 Share

Contamination in Cell Cultures Medical research is an ever-evolving field that continues to contribute to the advancement of human health. A key component of this type of research is the process of cell culturing, which involves the isolation and expansion of a cell population. The cell culture process begins with the extraction of a target sample. Once the desired cells have been acquired, they must be purified to minimize contamination. …

February 2021 Share

Isolating and Culturing T Cells One of the best ways to increase the accuracy of research is to increase the sample size that is being studied. The larger the group of subjects, the more representative they may be of the total population. Not to mention experiment security in case something goes wrong. In the field of medical research this increase in population can be carried out by culturing cells. Cell …