( a ) A normal human glial cell line. ( b ) A continuous cell line from human metastatic melanoma.

Table 1: Properties of finite and continuous cell lines

Features of cell line: To use any cell line for the production of biological product, one should have knowledge of following things related to cell lines:

•  Age, sex and species of the donor tissue.

•  For human cell lines, the donor's medical history and if available, the results of tests performed on the donor for the detection of adventitious agents

•  Culture history of the cell line including methods used for the isolation of the tissues from which the line was derived, passage history, media used and history of passage in animals, etc.

•  Previous identity testing and the results of all available adventitious agents testing