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Cell exposured to UV light for one hour - is the cell OK? (Oct/24/2004 )

I have accidentally left a flask of cells (with medium) in the hood while the UV light is on for more than one hour. I need the cell urgently for a experiment. After the exposure, the cell is sitll growing normally, but my concern is the exposure may induce some genetic changes such as mutation. Do you think if the cell is OK (at least for a short term experiment)?


I don't actually know if your cells are OK, but here are a few things to keep in mind...

some plastics and all glasses have some UV blocking capabilities. Plastics that are commonly used in the lab generally don't have any UV resistance.

The state of the cells will probably depend on their status while under the UV: cells that were dividing will probably be most affected as their DNA will have been unwound and have had methylations and other UV protective additives removed.

There is no real way of telling what the affect of the UV will have been on your cells. The safest way to avoid any artifact in your experiments is to discard those flasks.

Hope that helps!