Most normal somatic cells derived from adults are limited in the number of times they can divide. The number of replicative events that a cell or cell line can undergo before replicative arrest is known as the Hayflick limit, named for their discoverer, Leonard Hayflick.

Cells die (nonaccidentally) either when they have completed a fixed number of division cycles (around 60). This called the Hayflick limit.

The finite number of divisions of which at cell is capable.