As I understand it, the HEK-293 cell line was isolated by transforming
primary human embryonic kidney cells with sheared adenovirus.
I recall reading that only the 5' end of the viral genome is present in the
HEK-293 line. What precautions should be taken when working with this
cell line over and above those inherent in working with a human cell
line?
ATCC warns of infectious potential while InVitrogen ships the 293-EBNA
derivative with no warnings of any type.
