Stem cells have been hailed as the holy grail for treating many diseases and illnesses, including blindness, spine injury and stroke. Recently it was even reported that scientists had printed human embryonic stem cells using a 3D printer.

While it is easy to get carried away with the hype and the promise, it’s also important to not lose sight of the most important thing – safety.

Today our scientists have published a new paper all about stem cell safety which highlights how not all stem cells are safe. They have also developed the first safety test specifically for human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are now the most commonly used pluripotent stem cell type for research.

Our scientists are hoping the study and the new test method will help to raise the awareness and importance of stem cell safety and lead to improvements in quality control globally.