Dr. Cecil Fox, National Cancer Institute

Guide to Human Cell Line Authentication

Guide to Human Cell Line Authentication

Download the latest version of the Guide to Human Cell Line Authentication (updated 2 March 2023).

This document was written to set out the essential steps for authenticating human cell lines.

The Guide focuses on short tandem repeat (STR) profiling, as a widely used and accepted authentication method.  The Guide includes sections on:

  • Preparing starting material for STR profiling
  • Generating STR profiles
  • Points to be aware of when comparing cell line samples
  • Using an STR profile database
  • What to do with misidentified cell lines.

You might like to read more about authenticating cell lines.  See our reference pages for authenticating human cell lines and non-human cell lines.