Safety test for stem cells is developed in Australia

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  a' C+ [, S! o; d" T: J8 B4 \CSIRO scientists develop safety test for induced pluripotent stem cells8 M" \( E6 ^* q, C( n8 ~

7 s( W0 y8 V7 \. w0 S2 AAustralian scientists have created a test to work out whether certain types of stem cells are unsafe.- U& F' \# O2 [- h- q( L1 ]7 i

: K8 s2 z( k! T# XThe CSIRO has spent five years developing a safety test for induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cells./ C$ r, F0 @6 v
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iPS stem cells do not require a human embryo and are considered an important research advance.
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' h/ Y9 P8 U2 z( _: dLast month, scientists were able to use human skin cells to create early-stage embryos.1 U7 u6 i  _7 [; b2 s: u; A

! I  X' E3 B9 O* c' k& ~There is much debate in the scientific community about the advantages of iPS stem cells over their embryonic counterparts.0 C( |2 ]3 f3 k5 S) S
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The CSIRO's Andrew Laslett says there is still a number of question marks about the long term stability and safety of iPS cells.  H( T8 `4 K" d6 J# S$ a

4 q8 z' f! {: Z& I"At this stage it appears that human embryonic stem cells may be slightly safer, but it's early days," he said.% X/ F0 l: a8 Q: E/ a8 ]

' I& }9 h/ f# m' v( `$ t0 RDr Laslett says the new test will provide more information about the quality of iPS and help identify unwanted cells that can mutate.
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"Sometimes the cells that are made from the iPS cells change back into stem cells which are unwanted because these cells can form tumours called teratomas," he said.
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" g$ g3 \7 Y8 [) Z4 j4 [+ W) X1 Q* YDr Laslett is hoping the research will be used to ensure stem cell therapies are safe for humans.) H+ u8 N, h3 M) f; V- ]* Y
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"Any cell line that's going to be used for cell therapy has to go through a whole barrage of different tests to see whether they're safe," he said., ^; ^, I. A( |; m$ e' V

: Y2 K  X" p. ~$ I, T"We hope that this one will be added to that number of tests... and it's really the first one that's entirely specific for human induced pluripotent stem cells."
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By science and technology reporter Jake Sturmer
( y& `  R2 a1 Q1 OPosted Tue Jun 4, 2013 1:21pm AEST