Cell cross-contamination in cell cultures: the silent and neglected danger

Cell cross-contamination in cell cultures is a common problem during cell culturing and use. Contamination invalidates research results, compromises the comparison of results between laboratories, reduces reproducibility required in industrial production of cell lines, and may lead to unusable therapeutic products. The problem can be solved by increasing the awareness of its seriousness and by introducing regular quality control of cell cross-contamination in every laboratory where cells are grown and used.