Antibiotic use in mammalian skin cell cultures is a common method to prevent microbial contamination during laboratory experiments. However, growing evidence suggests that antibiotics—particularly streptomycin—can significantly alter cellular processes such as gene expression, mitochondrial function, and epigenetic regulation. In studies exploring subtle biological effects, such as those triggered by electromagnetic fields (EMFs) or radiation, these unintended antibiotic-induced changes can possibly confound results. This raises concerns about the reliability of data from skin cell studies using antibiotics, especially when analyzing transcriptomic or methylation endpoints.
AI-generated conceptual design by EMFSA (2025) using OpenAI’s DALL·E, depicting laboratory equipment used in studies on antibiotic use in mammalian cell cultures.
Can antibiotics interfere with cellular responses in mammalian systems?
Ref. Nygaard, U.H., Niehues, H., Rikken, G., Rodijk-Olthuis, D., Schalkwijk, J. and van den Bogaard, E.H. (2015), Antibiotics in cell culture: friend or foe? Suppression of keratinocyte growth and differentiation in monolayer cultures and 3D skin models. Exp Dermatol, 24: 964-965. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.12834
• PromoCell Blog: Antibiotics in Cell Culture: Friend or Enemy?
Ref. Ryu AH, Eckalbar WL, Kreimer A, Yosef N, Ahituv N. Use antibiotics in cell culture with caution: genome-wide identification of antibiotic-induced changes in gene expression and regulation. Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 8;7(1):7533. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07757-w. PMID: 28790348; PMCID: PMC5548911.
Experimental Standards
Antibiotic use in mammalian cell cultures remains a common practice to prevent contamination, but its unintended effects on gene expression, mitochondrial function, and epigenetic profiles warrant closer scrutiny.
This post sets the stage for our next article: an in-depth look at a recent study on 5G millimeter wave exposure and gene expression in human skin cells. https://www.emfsa.co.za/research-and-studies/5g-research-one-swallow-does-not-make-a-summer/
Explore Radiofrequency radiation and metal containing nanoparticles