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FBS Heat Inactivation
FBS Heat Inactivation
Introduction
Introduction
FBS is Fetal Bovine Serum, a critical supplement derived from the blood of fetal calves and used for cell culture. It provides essential nutrients, hormones, and growth factors that are necessary for the in-vitro growth and proliferation of most cultured cells.
General Info
General Info
Protocol
Protocol
How FBS is developed
How FBS is developed
FBS is collected as a byproduct of the meatpacking industry and then processed under strict, aseptic conditions to ensure its safety and quality for laboratory use.
Collection: The process begins at a licensed abattoir, where blood is collected from bovine fetuses. The collection is done via cardiac puncture in a closed, aseptic system.
Clotting: The collected blood is refrigerated, allowing it to clot. This separates the blood cells from the liquid serum fraction.
Centrifugation: The clotted blood is then centrifuged at high speed to further refine the serum by removing any remaining blood cells and other solid components.
Freezing: The raw serum is frozen to preserve the stability of its components, such as growth factors.
Processing: Before being bottled, the frozen serum is subjected to extensive filtration, often using triple 0.1 µm membrane filters, to achieve sterility. Some products are also heat-inactivated or gamma-irradiated to inactivate complement proteins and potential pathogens.
Quality Control: The final product undergoes rigorous quality control testing to screen for microbial contamination (viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma), endotoxin levels, and to confirm its ability to support cell growth.
Why FBS is needed
Why FBS is needed
FBS is essential for cultivating a wide variety of cells in a laboratory setting. Without it, most cultured cells would be unable to survive, grow, or divide.
FBS plays several key roles in cell culture:
Provides nutrients: FBS is a rich, complex mixture containing over 1,000 components, including amino acids, lipids, and vitamins, which serve as an energy source and raw material for cell growth.
Supplies growth factors: It delivers a broad range of hormones and growth factors, such as insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), that stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation.
Promotes cell attachment: The presence of attachment factors in FBS helps cells adhere to the culture surface, which is crucial for the survival and growth of many cell lines.
Buffers and protects cells: FBS acts as a buffer against large pH shifts and protects cells from toxic agents and proteases in the culture environment.
Versatility: The complex composition of FBS supports the growth of the widest range of cell types, including both immortalized cell lines and delicate primary cells, making it the most universally used serum supplement.
Ethical concerns and alternatives
Ethical concerns and alternatives
Due to the animal-derived nature of FBS, its use presents several challenges, including ethical concerns and batch-to-batch variability in its composition, which can affect the reproducibility of experiments. In response, researchers and companies are actively developing and promoting alternatives, such as chemically defined, serum-free, and animal-free media. However, many cell lines still rely on the complex composition of FBS to grow, making a complete replacement for all applications a significant challenge
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