AbstractC60 fullerenes are carbon nanospheres known to exert a protective activity in several models of apoptotic cell death. Both normal rat thymocytes and human T‐cell lymphoma Jurkat cells were treated with staurosporine, cytosine arabinoside and hydrogen peroxide as agents that trigger cell death. Activation of caspase‐3 as apoptosis marker was demonstrated in cells incubated for 4 h in the presence of these agents at concentrations causing 50 % cell viability reduction. Addition of C60 fullerenes (10‐5 M) protected normal T cells but not human T lymphoma cells from apoptosis induced either by staurosporine, cytosine arabinoside or hydrogen peroxide. These data demonstrate selectivity of fullerenes C60 biological effects in cultures of normal and transformed T cells.