SOMATIC CELL HYBRID BETWEEN ESTABLISHED HUMAN LINE D98 (PRESUMPTIVE HELA) AND 3T3

Somatic cell hybrids have been made between an established human cell line with a long culture history and an established mouse fibroblast line. When first analyzed, the hybrid cells contained nearly twice as many mouse chromosomes as the mouse parent line, and a human chromosome complement of about half that of the human parent. There was further loss of human chromosomes on continued cultivation. This behavior resembles that of other human-mouse hybrids and appears to be characteristic of the human-mouse combination. However, the number of human chromosomes is greater than in hybrids made from human diploid fibroblasts. Some clones contain more than a haploid quantity of human DNA per cell and should synthesize a much greater number of human gene products.