Baby Hamster Kidneyfibroblasts (BHK cells) are an adherent cell line used in molecular biology.
The cells were derived in 1961 by I. A. Macpherson and M. G. P. Stoker. Nowadays, subclone 13 is occasionally used, which was originally derived by single-cell isolation from the kidneys of five unsexed, 1-day-old hamsters.
The BHK-21 cells are useful for transformations and for stable and temporary transfections.[2] BHK cells are also used to study viral infections.[1][3]