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Creating pluripotent stem cells for clinical use does not lead to cancer-causing mutations, according to scientists from the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), who addressed the fears that surround the use of stem cells in humans.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in human patients have the ability to differentiate into any kind of cell in the body. Hence, these iPSCs create a lot of interest due to their ability to repair damage from injuries or illnesses such as Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

"We wanted to know whether reprogramming cells would make the cells prone to mutations," Jeanne Loring,co-leader of the study along with Nicholas Schork, said in a press release. "The answer is 'no.' "

"The safety of patients comes first, and our study is one of the first to address the safety concerns about iPSC-based cell replacement strategies and hopefully will spark further interest," Schork added.

Looking at three popular methods of iPSC production, ie "integrating retroviral vectors, non-integrating Sendai virus and synthetic mRNAs", scientists studied every method to check whether it would lead to cancer-causing mutations. Some minor alterations in the iPSCs were detected, but no major mutations could be seen as cause for alarm.

Repeating the experiments also led to no major risks.

However, the team warns such mutations might accumulate later when they multiply in lab cultures. Hence, the iSPC-based cell replacement strategies were analysed, before they were integrated into therapies.

"We need to move on to developing these cells for clinical applications," said Loring. "The quality control we're recommending is to use genomic methods to thoroughly characterize the cells before you put them into people."

The study was published in the Feb. 19 issue of Nature Communications.