Commitment theory of cellular aging: possibility of an immortal diploid cell strain

Calculations based on the commitment theory of cellular aging indicate that the mean number of uncommitted cells is much greater than unity in populations consisting of 10(10) or more diploid cells. Consequently the probability that all of the uncommitted cells will be lost by in vitro subcultivation is very small. It may therefore be possible to establish a cell population in the laboratory which is, for all practical purposes, immortal.