Study design
Cell study
Research performed in cells grown or tested outside the body.
What it means
Definition
Cell study: Cell studies can identify biological mechanisms, but cells in a dish do not reproduce the complexity of a whole human body.
What it can tell you
It can show how close the evidence is to a real human health outcome.
What it cannot tell you
It cannot prove that a treatment works in people unless human outcome data are available.
Headline trap
Why this matters in headlines
A compound killing cancer cells in a dish is not the same as a proven cancer treatment.