Naturally occurring and artificially induced tumor-like formations in marine invertebrates: A search for permanent cell lines

► Permanent cell lines of marine invertebrates are needed in marine biotechnology. ► The growth potential of naturally occurring tumor-like growths in mollusks is low. ► Most of the discovered molluscan tumor-like formations are benign. ► Transfection of foreign genes induces tumor-like formations in sea urchin embryos. ► The cells transfected by the yeast gal4 gene are involved in active proliferation.