Regrettably, cross-contamination and misidentification are still common within the research community.  Many cell lines were cross-contaminated during establishment; this means that all work using those cell lines has incorrectly used the contaminant – which may come from a different species or a different tissue.

A cell line is considered to be misidentified if it no longer corresponds to the individual from whom it was first established.  Many cases of misidentification are caused by cross-contamination, where another, faster growing, cell line is introduced into that culture.   Authentication testing is an effective way to combat cell line misidentification.  In 2011, the ATCC SDO published a standard on authentication testing of human cell lines.  ICLAC was formed after publication of the standard to provide guidance and an on-going focus for improvement in this area.