The culture medium is the most important component of the culture environment because it provides the necessary nutrients, growth factors, and hormones for cell growth, as well as regulating the pH and the osmotic pressure of the culture.

Although initial cell culture experiments were performed using natural media obtained from tissue extracts and body fluids, the need for standardization, media quality, and increased demand led to the development of defined media. The three basic classes of media are basal media, reduced-serum media, and serum-free media.


Comparison of culture media

Many continuous mammalian cell lines can be maintained on a relatively simple medium such as MEM supplemented with serum, and a culture grown in MEM can probably be just as easily grown in DMEM or Medium 199. However, when a specialized function is expressed, a more complex medium may be required. Information for selecting the appropriate medium for a given cell type is usually available in published literature and may also be obtained from the source of the cells or cell banks. We also offer the interactive Cell Culture Select tool, which features product recommendations and resources for your cell line of interest. With over 100 cell lines to choose from, the Cell Culture Select tool provides complete media recommendations for a variety of cell types and applications. Specialized cell lines may require additional research in published literature and may also be obtained from the source of the cells or cell banks. If there is no information available on the appropriate medium for your cell type, choose the growth medium and serum empirically or test several different media for best results. In general, a good place to start is MEM for adherent cells and RPMI-1640 for suspension cells.

Insect cells are cultured in growth media that are usually more acidic than those used for mammalian cells, such as TNM-FH and Grace’s medium.

Basal media

The majority of cell lines grow well in basal media, which contain amino acids, vitamins, inorganic salts, and a carbon source such as glucose, but these basal media formulations must be further supplemented with serum.

View all Gibco Cell Culture Media

减血清培养基

Another strategy to reduce the undesired effects of serum in cell culture experiments is to use reduced-serum media. Reduced-serum media are basal media formulations enriched with nutrients and animal-derived factors, which reduce the amount of serum supplementation that is needed.

Learn more about Advanced Reduced-Serum Media

Serum-free media

Serum-free media (SFM) circumvents issues with using animal sera by replacing the serum with appropriate nutritional and hormonal formulations. Serum-free media formulations exist for many primary cultures and cell lines, including recombinant protein producing lines of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO), various hybridoma cell lines, the insect lines Sf9 and Sf21 (Spodoptera frugiperda), and for cell lines that act as hosts for viral production (e.g., 293, VERO, MDCK, MDBK), and others. One of the major advantages of using serum-free media is the ability to make the medium selective for specific cell types by choosing the appropriate combination of growth factors. 

The table below lists the advantages and disadvantages of serum-free media.

Pros

Cons

  • Increased definition
  • More consistent performance
  • Easier purification and downstream processing
  • Precise evaluation of cellular functions
  • Increased productivity
  • Better control over physiological response
  • Enhanced detection of cellular mediators
  • Requirement for cell type-specific media formulations
  • Need for higher degree of reagent purity
  • Slower growth

See all Serum-Free Media products

 

Culture media comparison table

This table provides a comparison of several commonly used culture media, their full names, common components, typical applications, and key features.

Culture mediumFull nameCommon componentsApplicationsFeatures
DMEMDulbecco's Modified Eagle MediumHigh glucose or low glucose, amino acids, vitamins, saltsWidely used for many mammalian cell types, especially fibroblasts, neurons, glial cells, HUVECs, cancer research, primary cells 
  • Available in high and low glucose formulations
  • Can be supplemented with pyruvate
DMEM/F12Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium: Nutrient Mixture F-12Combination of DMEM and Ham's F-12, amino acids, vitaminsMammalian cells, Serum-free growth of CHO cells, hybridomas, primary cells
  • Combines DMEM with the nutrients of F-12
  • Supports a wide variety of cells
IMDMIscove's Modified Dulbecco's MediumHighly enriched medium for fastidious cells such as hematopoietic cells, hybridomas , t-lymphocytesHighly enriched medium for fastidious cells such as hematopoietic cells, hybridomas, t-lymphocytes
  • Contains selenium, higher levels of certain vitamins, and amino acids
MEMMinimum Essential MediumAmino acids, vitamins, salts, glucoseGeneral cell culture, adherent cell lines, primary cells, cytotoxicity assays
  • Available with Earle's salts or Hanks' salts
  • Can be supplemented with non-essential amino acids
RPMI 1640Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 MediumGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, bicarbonateGeneral cell culture, lymphocyte culture, hybridoma cells, immunological studies
  • Suitable for suspension cultures
  • Often supplemented with HEPES and glutamine
Ham’s F-12Ham’s F-12 Nutrient MixGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, putrescine, hypoxanthine, thymidineCHO cells, genetic research, recombinant protein production
  • Available with L-glutamine or GlutaMAX supplement
  • Contains a wider variety of components than other basal media
McCoy’s 5AMcCoy’s 5A MediumHigh glucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, bacto-peptone, glutathioneFibroblasts, primary cells
  • Available with L-glutamine or GlutaMAX supplement and HEPES
  • Contains Hanks’ salts
Leibovitz’s L-15Leibovitz’s L-15 MediumGalactose, amino acids, vitamins, saltsHEP-2 monkey kidney cells, primary explants of embryonic and adult tissue
  • Designed for supporting cell growth in environments without CO2 equilibration
  • Available with L-glutamine or GlutaMAX supplement
F-10Ham’s F-10 Nutrient MixGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, hypoxanthine, thymidineCHO cells, primary explants, serum-free applications
  • Contains a wider variety of components than other basal media
  • Available with L-glutamine or GlutaMAX supplement and HEPES
Williams’ E MediumWilliams’ E MediumGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, glutathione, lipid methyl linoleateHepatocytes, liver cells, primary cells
  • Available with GlutaMAX supplement
  • Enriched in amino acids and double the glucose
NCTC 109Medium NCTC-109Glucose, amino acids, vitamins, salts, glutathione, ascorbic acid, coenzymesMouse fibroblasts, hybridomas, primary cells
  • Rich in nucleosides, vitamins, coenzymes, reducing agents, and other unique ingredients
Fischer’s MediumFischer’s MediumGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, saltsLymphocytes, lymphoblasts, hematopoietic cells
  • Originally formulated for the culture of mouse leukemic cells
BMEBasal Medium EagleGlucose, amino acids, vitamins, saltsFibroblasts, primary cells
  • Contains Earle’s salts
  • MEM, Glasgow’s Medium, and DMEM are all modifications of BME
GMEMGlasgow’s Minimal Essential MediumHigh glucose, high amino acids, high vitamins, saltsKidney cell lines, genetic studies
  • Contains twice the concentration of amino acids and vitamins compared to the origin BME
  • Often supplemented with 10% tryptose phosphate broth
Grace’s Insect MediumGrace’s Insect MediumGlucose, fructose, sucrose, malic acid, fumaric acid, succinic acid, alpha-ketoglutaric acid, amino acids, vitamins, saltsInsect cells, virus production, recombinant protein production
  • Available supplemented with and without lactalbumin hydrolysate and yeastolate
Schneider’s Drosophila MediumSchneider’s Drosophila MediumAmino acids, inorganic salts, other componentsDrosophila cells, insect cell culture, genetic studies
  • Often used for Sf9 and Sf21 insect cell growth

仅供科研使用，不可用于诊断目的。