Top 5 interesting serendipity stories in science that alter the world for a better place (accidental discoveries or inventions)
HeLa cells
The most important scientific discovery of the last century was the first Immortal Human cell line called HeLa cells. The cells were obtained by Johns Hopkins researcher Dr. George Gey in 1951 during the treatment of his patient.
Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer at the age of 31 in the year 1951. Her name and memory live on in the form of a remarkable lineage of continually dividing cells that have achieved, to all intents and purposes, “immortality.” Normally Even the cancer cell will die after a certain period of time, but her cells just kept on dividing and dividing, and still, it is dividing in 2021. Isn’t it amazing? Henrietta’s cancers cells had become the first human “cell line” to be established in culture, and they were named after the first two letters of her name – HeLa (pronounced “hee-la”). Some of the breakthroughs in the medical science field using HeLa cells are, in 1954, they were used to develop Polio vaccines. In the 1980s, it was used in the research of AIDS. While in recent years, HeLa cells were critical for the “omics” revolution, from genomics to transcriptomics and proteomics. It is estimated that 70000 studies were carried out using HeLa cells.
Sweet’N low
Do you all know that the discovery of Artificial sweeteners was the sweetest accident? Yes, it was.
One fine day, after working in the lab, a scientist from Johns Hopkins University named Fahlberg taken a bit of bread, and to his mystery, the bread was unusually sweeter. After excluding the possibility of the bread roll being made that way, Fahlberg came to the wrapping up that he must have mistakenly spilled a chemical onto his hands. He toiled and finally discovered the reason behind the sweetness. A beaker filled with sulfobenzoic acid, phosphorus chloride, and ammonia. This noxious echoing cocktail had boiled over earlier in the day, creating benzoic sulfimide, also called Saccharin, a compound Fahlberg was familiar with but had never had a reason to try jostle into his mouth. Yes, The first non-toxic artificial sweetener was discovered because a scientist forgot to wash his hands and ate the food after working with chemicals.
Strict officer insulin:
Insulin was discovered in 1921, but before that, people with Diabetics didn’t live for long. The most effective treatment was a rigorous diet with a minimal intake of carbohydrates. This would extend the life period for few years but won’t save them. So Insulin was discovered in 1921, but the seed was sowed 32 years (1889) before 1921 by two German researchers, Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering. These scientists had removed the pancreas from a dog. A few days later, they noticed that flies were brimming around the dog’s urine which was unexpected and unusual. So they tested the urine and found sugar in it. They realized that by removing the pancreas, the dog had developed diabetes. This led to the thought that the pancreas was the site where “pancreatic substances” (insulin) were synthesized. Then series of experiments were carried since then, and finally, “I would say the insulin as Magic potion” was discovered in 1921.
X-rays
In today’s world, X-ray has become inevitable and the cornerstone of modern medicine. Do u believe the discovery of X-rays was totally accidental? Yes, it is. Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics in Wurzburg, Bavaria, accidentally discovered X-rays in 1895 when testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass. The cathode tube was covered in heavy black paper, so he was surprised when an incandescent green light, even so, escaped and projected onto a nearby fluorescent screen. He found that the inexplicable light would pass through most substances but leave shadows of concrete objects through testing. Because he did not know what the rays were, he called them ‘X,’ meaning ‘unknown,’ rays. Wilhelm Roentgen was honored with Nobel Prize. Back then, they didn’t know the potential side effects of X-rays, but we now understand the risks associated with X-ray radiation. We have developed protocols to minimize unnecessary exposure greatly.
the first picture is HeLa cell and the second picture is the first-ever X-Ray was taken in history(Picture)
The hidden talent of serum:
Myelofibrosis is an uncommon type of bone marrow cancer that disrupts your body's normal production of blood cells. It happens because one of the immune cells called monocytes entre the bone marrow (Bone marrow is found in the center of most bones and has many blood vessels) and turns into Fibrocytes. For years, scientists have searched for a way to stop fibrocyte formation. But it was not a piece of cake to solve. It was arduous, almost impossible to study. Under normal lab conditions, when monocytes are grown in blood serum, the transformation just doesn't happen. No fibrocytes.
The research on T cells whether they could survive in a serum-free culture was carried out by Biologists in Texas, which was an entirely different topic. But this research paved the path to stop fibroblast formation. The story was, their T-cell samples with serum were contaminated with monocytes. And when they looked at their culture under a microscope, there were only monocytes, and there was no fibroblast formation. Something in the serum had been keeping the monocytes from transforming. The scientists rapidly changed gears, dumped their work on T cells, and focused on the monocytes. They managed to isolate the serum protein that stopped fibrocyte formation. It is now being tested as a treatment for myelofibrosis.
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