Quality control studies on fetal bovine serum used in tissue culture

Summary The quality of the fetal bovine serum (FBS) produced for tissue culture purposes by eight commercial suppliers in the United States was tested over a period of 1 year. The results were compared with tests on some special FBS produced during the same period under conditions which included maximal sterile precautions, freedom from whole cells, and rapid processing in the cold. The findings were that: (a) the specially produced FBS had demonstrably better cell growth-supporting capacity, (b) commercial FBS had a significantly higher free fatty acid content compared to the specially produced FBS, (c) higher free fatty acid content was correlated with poorer cell growth-supporting capacity, (d) extremely wide variations among the different commercial suppliers were found in some of the test results, (e) roughly 10% of commercial lots of FBS were contaminated with bacteria and/or fungi, and (f) at least three different bacteriological culture media, including blood agar plates, were required for adequate sterility testing of FBS. The need for better quality control of FBS is discussed, the method for producing FBS with better cell growth-supporting capacity is described, and both “minimal” and “stringent” ranges of acceptable values for some chemical tests suitable for quality control are given. Product Manager, Hyland Division of Travenol Laboratories, Inc., Los Angeles. Calif.