What is serum- or protein free cell culture?
It is common that mammalian cells are grown in a medium that is supplemented with animal serum. A common supplement is for example fetal calf serum. Serum supplementation has some drawbacks. First of all, animal serums are relatively expensive. Secondly, the content of different animal serums is not defined and thus there can be differences between serum lots and also serums from different manufacturers may be different. Thirdly, serum contains immunoglobulin, which may copurify with the produced monoclonal antibody and these antibodies may cause problems in some applications. Some of our monoclonal antibodies are produced in serum free medium and some are produced in totally protein free medium. Serum free medium contains normal cell medium components and some proteins, but not immunoglobulins. In addition, protein content is extremely low compared to serum-supplemented medium. A protein free culture medium contains only the necessary components required for cell growth, but no protei
