Fetal Bovine Serum

Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) Promotes Robust Cell Culture

Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), also referred to as Fetal Calf Serum (FCS), is a cell growth supplement often preferred over other types of cell culture sera. FBS is the serum derived from blood drawn from a bovine fetus in a closed, controlled system of collection.  Animal Sera, both bovine and non-bovine sera, are used in cell culture applications with the most commonly used being FBS due to its high level of nutrients. FBS is used by both academic and industrial manufacturing researchers in their cell culture media for biotechnology antibody and protein production.

The Benefits of FBS Include:

• Low Antibody Cross Reactivity –  FBS contains significantly lower contents of antibodies, which minimizes the risk of antibody cross-reaction with cells in culture. It also contains low levels of γ‐globulins which have a cell growth‐inhibitory activity.¹
• High Level of Nutrients – Fetal Bovine Serum contain an optimal combination of growth factors, proteins, and ions as well as high levels of nutrients necessary for cell viability and proliferation in vitro.  This makes FBS a highly effective cell growth promoter for nearly any cell culture system.²
• Protects Cells – FBS can protect cells from EGCG-induced cell death by inhibiting generation of ROS, protecting against toxicity of EGCG. It can also prevent the formation of EGCG-protein complexes that are inseparable by SDS-gel by preventing the binding of certain proteins to EGCG.³
• Consistent Results – Cell culture in the presence of FBS can typically improve lot-to-lot consistency, promoting reproducibility in routine cell culture work. FBA overall maintains cell health and produced rapid results.

Supporting a Broad Spectrum of Cell Culture Needs With FBS:

Leinco offers five variant grades of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), each selected and formulated based on specific cell culture applications such as embryonic stem cell cultures, hybridoma technology, TET systems and cell lines, as well as many others.  We source our FBS from the United States and USDA approved regions, ensuring traceability and improving lot-to-lot consistency.