Safety test for stem cells is developed in Australia

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CSIRO scientists develop safety test for induced pluripotent stem cells
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' {6 s) ~: z8 ^$ pAustralian scientists have created a test to work out whether certain types of stem cells are unsafe.
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The CSIRO has spent five years developing a safety test for induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cells.
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2 j- p) ^5 |2 k/ j' P& FiPS stem cells do not require a human embryo and are considered an important research advance.; f, Y9 N6 o. |! b" Q- I2 y
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Last month, scientists were able to use human skin cells to create early-stage embryos.
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There is much debate in the scientific community about the advantages of iPS stem cells over their embryonic counterparts." V5 R% M: W. G1 A6 D( P2 \' P

# M1 I$ i' B/ L. H7 i8 vThe CSIRO's Andrew Laslett says there is still a number of question marks about the long term stability and safety of iPS cells.
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% \/ Z5 I. a9 F"At this stage it appears that human embryonic stem cells may be slightly safer, but it's early days," he said.9 D9 a6 ]2 k' S: a4 i) d! ^

1 a  a( I% |4 Z) ?Dr 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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0 b5 _7 |/ ~% ^  I" O/ m  f"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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% a$ K' J5 p7 M: [, \Dr Laslett is hoping the research will be used to ensure stem cell therapies are safe for humans.
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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.* M% h* b% l9 Y4 l* u
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"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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9 T% S# _+ E  j( K6 Q/ a By science and technology reporter Jake Sturmer
) e9 D) g: H6 p3 i8 k' F" J* ]$ uPosted Tue Jun 4, 2013 1:21pm AEST