On Sept. 5, under relentless Senate questioning, Mr. Thompson admitted that only two dozen cell lines were ready and available.
Testifying before a panel of skeptical senators, Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said that only 24 or 25 of the colonies, or lines, were ready for experiments.
The RNA quantity and quality was determined using a spectrophotometer (Bio-photometer, Eppendorf, Westbury, NY) and stored at −20°C until all cell lines were ready for cDNA synthesis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
The timing for testing a given line was dependent on when transformed lines were ready to be transferred to the greenhouse.
Since 2011, the average time between a customer's order and the line being ready has increased from 40 to 46 working days.
He looked up the long-distance telephoning procedure and discovered that the woman had been saying not "Honk, honk," but "Trunk, trunk," which is the English way of notifying a caller that his line is ready.
Go Soup, a new line, is ready to eat in a pouch, an innovation aimed at young people who also will like the flavorings — soy, coconut milk and green chilies in a creamy chicken soup.
"I don't think the product line is ready to deliver what the ad campaign promises; today's Buicks are boring," said Jose Rosa, a professor of marketing at Case Western University in Cleveland.
The regulator noted on Tuesday that since 2011, the average time between a customer's order and the line being ready had increased from 40 to 48 working days.
