Fetal Bovine Serum Tissue Culture

Fetal bovine serum is used in many laboratory experiments.

When culturing animal cells and tissues for research purposes, it is important to supplement the growth media with nutrients. Without supplementation, cells may die or grow abnormally. One of the most commonly used supplements for tissue culture is fetal bovine serum, or fetal calf serum.

Advantages

Fetal bovine serum is such a popular tissue culture supplement because it contains many embryonic growth factors. It also has been shown to meet most metabolic requirements for cultured cells. Commercially available serum has often been heated and filtered to remove molecules that may damage the cells, such as members of the complement cascade. This also serves to sterilize the serum.

Disadvantage

One of the problems with fetal bovine serum is the fact that nobody knows exactly what is in it. Each batch of fetal bovine serum is slightly different from the previous batch. Because of this variation, it is often necessary to test each new batch of serum a laboratory receives to ensure it performs well. Often the serum's manufacturer provides testing data for common techniques.

Ethical Considerations

Fetal bovine serum is harvested from fetuses taken from slaughtered pregnant cows. This often involves cardiac puncture of the fetus to remove blood from the fetal heart. This blood is then clotted, and the serum is removed. It is possible that this procedure causes pain to the fetus and, therefore, many scientists think use of the serum is unethical and inhumane.

References

• Sigma-Aldrich: Fetal Bovine Serum
• University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Tissue Culture Facility: Technical Tips 1--Heat Inactivation of Fetal Bovine Serum
• "Alternatives to Laboratory Animals;" The Use of Fetal Bovine Serum: Ethical or Scientific Problem?; C.E. Jochems, J.B. van der Valk, F.R. Stafleu, V. Baumans; March 2002