
Ingredients in plastic test tubes can block some biological reactions while testing the efficacy of drugs, and thereby lead researchers to bogus conclusions, according to a new study.
University of Alberta researcher Andrew Holt says that water alone can leach such chemicals out of plastic tubes.
Advertisement
He has revealed that the his team noticed the effect while testing experimental drugs that could potentially treat Parkinson's disease.
According to him, his team's work supports anecdotal evidence from various studies that plastics seem to affect some experiments.
"People are clearly aware that plastics can cause problems. Quite remarkably, nobody appears to have done what we were forced to do," New Scientist magazine quoted him as saying.
He believes that a lot of data in the public domain may be skewed in some way, though he hasn't yet identified papers with erroneous data or conclusions.
"The end result is that researchers are wasting massive amounts of time and massive amounts of money," he said.
Simonetta Sipione, who is also at the University of Alberta, though was not involved in the study, said that the problem might even extend to sterile plastic containers that were used to grow cells.
She said that leaching from plastics might have caused the mysterious death of cultured brain cells in her lab, while studying Huntington's disease.
An article on the current study has been published in the journal Science.
Source: ANI
LIN
"People are clearly aware that plastics can cause problems. Quite remarkably, nobody appears to have done what we were forced to do," New Scientist magazine quoted him as saying.
Advertisement
He believes that a lot of data in the public domain may be skewed in some way, though he hasn't yet identified papers with erroneous data or conclusions.
"The end result is that researchers are wasting massive amounts of time and massive amounts of money," he said.
Simonetta Sipione, who is also at the University of Alberta, though was not involved in the study, said that the problem might even extend to sterile plastic containers that were used to grow cells.
She said that leaching from plastics might have caused the mysterious death of cultured brain cells in her lab, while studying Huntington's disease.
An article on the current study has been published in the journal Science.
Source: ANI
LIN
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest Drug News

Examining FDA and patent records, researchers found that insulin manufacturers prolong market exclusivity for brand-name products.

The rise in FDA ODD awards indicates a collective endeavor to create new myelofibrosis medications devoid of mechanisms inducing anemia.

The most significant decrease in autoimmune thyroid disease risk was observed in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving immunomodulatory drugs or 'biological DMARDs'.

Human apotransferrin injected to mice models suffering from intracerebral hemorrhage was found to mitigate the serious effects of stroke.

The reduction of these senescent osteoclasts, possibly through the utilization of current medications, could present a novel approach in managing lower back pain.