Hypervariable DNA sequences may be used as probes to derive DNA "finger-prints" for individuals. To assess the use of the human 33.15 and 33.6 probes (isolated by Jeffreys and coworkers) for characterizing cell lines of nonhuman origin, DNA from different stocks of Chinese hamster (CH) cells was screened. All CHO (ovary) sublines could be readily distinguished from CH-V79 sublines by their fingerprints, but where two stocks had been derived recently from the same line, their fingerprints were nearly identical. Similarly fingerprints of HPRT-deficient mutants derived from one cell stock were identical. A V79 x CHO fusion hybrid showed equal fingerprint band-sharing with each parent line, while early-passage diploid CH cells had a fingerprint closer to CHO than to V79. Thus these data introduce a simple means of typing cell lines to avoid cross-contamination, of checking cell hybrids, and of assessing the divergence of cell stocks from one another.