What are the disadvantages of using serum in cell culture?
Posted July 22, 2020
Answer
Despite the wide application in cell culture, using serum in a medium has a few disadvantages:
- Physiological variability: Although the major constituents of serum, such as albumin and transferrin, are known, serum also contains a wide variety of minor components (e.g. nutrients, growth factors, hormones, minerals, etc.) that are not fully determined but have a considerable effect on cell growth.
- Shelf life and consistency: Serum varies from batch to batch, and at best can last one year.
- Quality control: Extensive testing is required to ensure the quality, especially when changing to a new batch.
- Specificity: Several batches of serum may be needed when more than one cell type is used.
- Downstream processing: Product purification can be complicated because of the presence of undefined substances in serum.
- Contamination: Serum is frequently contaminated with viruses, which represents an additional unknown factor to cell culture and may be harmful to cells.
Additional resources
Freshney, R. I. (2005). Serum?Free Media. Culture of animal cells: a manual of basic technique.