What are the advantages and disadvantages of serum-free media in cell culture?

The main advantages of using serum-free media are:

• Increased definition and more reproducible formulations, allowing for more convincing and consistent research results.
• Easier purification and downstream processing.
• Lower risk of contamination with bacteria, fungi or virus.
• Elimination of time-consuming batch tests.

However, there are also some drawbacks for serum-free media:

• Requirement for cell type-specific media formulation.
• High demand for reagent purity.
• Slower growth rate.