4 ms·

This has an inaccurate title which does not match the source. This is also at least the second submission of this study with the same inaccuracy in its title: s

This has an inaccurate title which does not match the source. This is also at least the second submission of this study with the same inaccuracy in its title: see also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30481053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30481053 . Original headline: "in Human Liver Cell Line" Submitted HN headline: "in human liver DNA" Abstract: "we investigated the effect of BNT162b2 on the human liver cell line Huh7" huh7.com: "Huh-7 is an immortal cell line composed of epithelial-like, tumorigenic cells. The majority of Huh-7 cells show a chromosome number between 55 and 63 (mode 60) and are highly heterogeneous." When it comes to stability of their genome, huh7 cells are not even remotely similar to human cells. Much less similar to human cells than mouse sells. Probably less similar to human cells than an average bacterium.

hajile 5y ago
The title was taken from the abstract and then I removed words until it fit. DNA was substituted for a couple words and was the next to last change I made as it does alter the meaning slightly (though probably not meaningfully for most people). The question here isn’t stability. The mRNA was present in the cDNA sometime within 6 hours. That isn’t some fluke, but instead points to something that happens somewhat readily. The fact that clinical side effects seem related means we need to be replicating toes study and if that is consistent we need to start testing in other cells. Finally, we should be on the lookout for any cancers seeing large increases in diagnosis after late December 2020
- jimrandomh 5y ago
  "Human liver" vs "human liver cell line" may sound like only a slight alteration in meaning to a layperson, but it's actually an enormous difference. I don't think anyone is particularly surprised to hear that a cancer cell line is expressing reverse transcriptase and grabbing random mRNA. People would be very surprised to hear that about cells in a random human.
  - hajile 5y ago
    That's true, but what other word would I drop to add those words? Maybe it's too much to assume people on a technical forum will read the paper (or at least the abstract/conclusion) for themselves.

hajile 5y ago

The title was taken from the abstract and then I removed words until it fit. DNA was substituted for a couple words and was the next to last change I made as it does alter the meaning slightly (though probably not meaningfully for most people). The question here isn’t stability. The mRNA was present in the cDNA sometime within 6 hours. That isn’t some fluke, but instead points to something that happens somewhat readily. The fact that clinical side effects seem related means we need to be replicating toes study and if that is consistent we need to start testing in other cells. Finally, we should be on the lookout for any cancers seeing large increases in diagnosis after late December 2020

jimrandomh 5y ago
"Human liver" vs "human liver cell line" may sound like only a slight alteration in meaning to a layperson, but it's actually an enormous difference. I don't think anyone is particularly surprised to hear that a cancer cell line is expressing reverse transcriptase and grabbing random mRNA. People would be very surprised to hear that about cells in a random human.
- hajile 5y ago
  That's true, but what other word would I drop to add those words? Maybe it's too much to assume people on a technical forum will read the paper (or at least the abstract/conclusion) for themselves.