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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

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Long-term competition experiments reveal limited adaptive evolution in human cell lines.

Elżbieta Speina1, Agnieszka Tupalska2, Iwona Grądzka3

  • 1Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5a, 02-106, Warsaw, Poland. elasp@ibb.waw.pl.

Scientific Reports
|June 19, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Human cells in long-term culture exhibit slow evolution, not rapid clonal expansion. Competition experiments reveal weak selection and gradual adaptation, suggesting limited ongoing somatic evolution under stable conditions.

Keywords:
In vitro evolutionAdaptive evolutionClonal dynamicsGFP markerSelection experimentsSomatic evolution

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Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Cancer progression involves somatic evolution, generating adapted clones through mutations and selection.
  • Uncertainty exists regarding whether human cells evolve continuously or reach a stable state in lab settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if human cell lines (HeLa, 293) evolve under stable laboratory conditions over 12 months.
  • To assess the emergence of competitively advantageous variants in co-cultured cell populations.

Main Methods:

  • Co-culture of isogenic HeLa and 293 cell subpopulations (GFP+ and GFP-) for 12 months.
  • Competition assays with and without periodic GFP induction/sorting.
  • Parallel experiment exposing GFP+ cells to non-evolving GFP- competitors.

Main Results:

  • Initial patterns suggested genetic drift, followed by GFP- cell expansion.
  • A beneficial mutation in GFP+ 293 cells reversed the trend after 4-6 months; GFP- HeLa cells maintained an advantage.
  • Observed dynamics indicated weak selection and small fitness differences.

Conclusions:

  • Long-term cultured human cells demonstrate slow evolution rather than rapid clonal expansion.
  • Somatic evolution in vitro occurs gradually, influenced by weak selection.
  • Cellular adaptation in stable laboratory environments is a slow process.