Six cold-sensitive variants have been isolated from Chinese hamster ovary cells by the BUdR-visible light selection technique. The properties of one of these lines have been studied in detail. This line stops dividing immediately after a shift from 39 degrees C to 33 degrees C though its doubling time at 39 degrees C is only slightly longer than that of wild-type cells. The rates of DNA and protein synthesis are severely reduced at 33 degrees C, but the rate of RNA synthesis is not significantly different from wild-type cells. This line may be defective in protein synthesis, but the results of sedimentation analysis indicate that it probably has normal ribosomal subunit assembly.