Originally employed in the late 1950s, fetal bovine serum (FBS) has become a mainstay in biomedical research because it can supplement the growth of virtually a

Originally employed in the late 1950s, fetal bovine serum (FBS) has become a mainstay in biomedical research because it can supplement the growth of virtually all common human, animal, and even insect cell lines. As an added supplement for many cell culture applications in amounts typically 5-20% of total medium volume, FBS—when used—is often the most expensive part of performing cell culture. Despite its long history of use, FBS has several well-described issues that have made its replacement a priority in recent years. First, inherent variability and undefined nature of FBS use leads to compounding external costs in quality control. Second, FBS is a potential source of contamination. Third, there is a limited global supply of FBS. Lastly, the use of FBS carries ethical concerns, making its use inherently misaligned with one of the fundamental benefits of cultivated meat. A wide range of efforts to replace serum have been tried and accomplished and many of these replacements are used today, permitting serum-free cell culture for a variety of applications. However, serum-free formulations will need to be further optimized specifically for cultivated meat. https://gfi.org/science/the-science-of-cultivated-meat/deep-dive-cultivated-meat-cell-culture-media/ https://gfi.org/science/the-science-of-cultivated-meat/deep-...