In the present study, H460 human non-small cell lung cancer cells treated with the Streptomyces sp. MCCB 248 extract showed nuclear condensation and fragmentation as evident from Hoechst 33342 staining. This is similar to what is observed with the known anticancer agent doxorubicin (Xin et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2010). A significant number of anticancer agents display cytotoxicity by damaging DNA, leading to apoptosis (Johnstone et al. 2002). The morphological hallmark of apoptotic cell death includes shrinkage of the cell and nucleus as well as condensation of nuclear chromatin (Saraste 2000), as was observed with application of the S. artemisiae MCCB248 extract.