Cells with multiple chromosome aberrations in control individuals

Chromosome analysis for asymmetrical chromosome aberrations was performed on 48-h lymphocyte cultures from 12 young trainees who had recently commenced employment, in order to obtain control levels. In two of them, cells were found with multiple breaks and exchanges but when repeated 50 days later no evidence of such cells was found. The possible factors responsible for the origin of these cells and their subsequent disappearance are discussed with the conclusion that a viral etiology seems the most likely.