Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the most widely-used growth supplement for cell culture media because of its high content of embryonic growth-promoting factors. When used at appropriate concentrations, it supplies many defined and undefined components that have been shown to satisfy specific metabolic requirements for the culture of cells. FBS is a complex mixture of biomolecules that includes growth factors, proteins, trace elements, vitamins, and hormones. These are important for the growth and maintenance of cells in vivo and in culture.
Our FBS selection categories make it easy to choose an FBS product suitable for any cell culture application need, based on relevant parameters:
If you are using FBS, media, or reagents from Gibco or Life Technologies/Invitrogen, click here to find our replacement product number.
Explore our FBS categories:
Important Note: FBS is a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries. Animals are not intentionally slaughtered to obtain raw material for FBS.
FBS products that are suitable for general cell culture applications are collected in the FBS Classic portfolio. These products include serum products that have the following attributes:
For labs that perform cell culture as part of their biomanufacturing process, or otherwise need to document reduced risk and testing for specific contaminants, FBS provenance and attributes are critical. FBS Premier products meet international standards with enhanced certification, are tested for the absence of key viral contaminants, and are supplied with enhanced documentation of sourcing, contaminant testing, and validation. Some products are validated by the SER-TAIN™ process to be free of defined contaminants.
FBS Premier products are critical for labs that must document specific contaminant testing at every stage of their process but provide reassurance for any lab wishing to reduce risk and enhance documentation of cell culture supplementation.
Products designated FBS Select meet standards for specialized cell and tissue culture including supplementation of stem cells, cardiomyocytes, and cells cultured for the development of immunotherapeutics. FBS Select products include sera that are:
Article: Serum for Cell and Tissue Culture FAQs
Technical Bulletin: Quality Control Sterility Testing of Serum Products
Technical Bulletin: Organisms Inactivated by Gamma Irradiation at 25—35 kGy
Technical Bulletin: Using PCR to Detect Viral Agents in Animal Sera
Technical Bulletin: Storing and Thawing Serum
Technical Bulletin: Microbe Selection for the SER- TAIN™ Process Validation
Product Information: Preparation of Charcoal-Stripped and Heat-Inactivated Fetal Calf Serum
Article: HL-1 Cells
Article: Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Culture Procedures & Protocols
Article: Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture Protocols
Article: Cryopreservation of Cell Lines
Article: Thawing of Frozen Cell Lines
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