The WPI study sequenced virus that had been cultured. It was different from the prostate cancer one so unlikely to be caused by XMRV already in the tissue.
They had an evolutionary tree worked out by an expert which proved their work was solid.
Anyway, the tissue is grown from prostate cells, possibly from cancer cells, I don't know. The cells have to be treated to make them immortal. They are far removed from any human. If the original cells were infected every cell must be infected. This would give near 100% results in every study, including the prostate research and this has not happened.
It is the details that make contamination so unlikely. As a broad statement, prostate cell line, MuLV in prostate tissue, it sounds a possibility but the process makes it unlikely, or at least unlikely to occur without it being very obvious and very easy to check.
The whole contamination thing is a side issue, dealt with and proved wrong, we need to move on to doing proper, important science that will benefit us all.
Mithriel
They had an evolutionary tree worked out by an expert which proved their work was solid.
Anyway, the tissue is grown from prostate cells, possibly from cancer cells, I don't know. The cells have to be treated to make them immortal. They are far removed from any human. If the original cells were infected every cell must be infected. This would give near 100% results in every study, including the prostate research and this has not happened.
It is the details that make contamination so unlikely. As a broad statement, prostate cell line, MuLV in prostate tissue, it sounds a possibility but the process makes it unlikely, or at least unlikely to occur without it being very obvious and very easy to check.
The whole contamination thing is a side issue, dealt with and proved wrong, we need to move on to doing proper, important science that will benefit us all.
Mithriel