Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future (2024)

van der Valk, J., Bieback, K., Buta, C., Cochrane, B., Dirks, W., Fu, J., Hickman, J., Hohensee, C., Kolar, R., Liebsch, M., Pistollato, F., Schulz, M., Thieme, D., Weber, T., Wiest, J., Winkler, S., & Gstraunthaler, G. (2018). Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future. Altex, 35(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.1705101

van der Valk, Jan ; Bieback, Karen ; Buta, Christiane et al. / Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future. In: Altex. 2018 ; Vol. 35, No. 1. pp. 1-20.

@article{51b3e60b28c6479aa7300a592f30cafb,

title = "Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future",

abstract = "The supplementation of culture medium with fetal bovine serum (FBS, also referred to as {\textquoteleft}fetal calf serum{\textquoteright}) is still common practice in cell culture applications. Due to a number of disadvantages in terms of quality and reproducibility of in vitro data, animal welfare concerns, and in light of recent cases of fraudulent marketing, the search for alternatives and the development of serum-free medium formulations gained global attention. Here, we report on the 3rd Workshop on FBS, Serum Alternatives and Serum-free Media, where (a) regulatory aspects, (b) the serum dilemma, (c) alternatives to FBS, (d) case-studies of serum-free in vitro applications, and (e) the establishment of serum-free databases, were discussed.The whole process of obtaining blood from a living calf fetus to using the FBS produced from it for scientific purposes is de facto not yet legally regulated, despite the existing EU-Directive 2010/63/EU on the use of animals for scientific purposes. Together with above mentioned challenges, several strategies have been developed to reduce or replace FBS in cell culture media in terms of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction, Replacement). Most recently, releasates of activated human donor thrombocytes (human platelet lysates) have been shown to be one of the most promising serum alternatives when chemically defined media are not yet an option. Additionally, new developments in cell-based assay techniques, advanced organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems are covered in this report. Chemically-defined serum-free media are shown to be the ultimate goal for the majority of culture systems, and examples are discussed.",

keywords = "serum-free, cell culture, databases, 3Rs, replace",

author = "{van der Valk}, Jan and Karen Bieback and Christiane Buta and Brett Cochrane and Wilhelm Dirks and Jianan Fu and James Hickman and Christiane Hohensee and Roman Kolar and Manfred Liebsch and Francesca Pistollato and Markus Schulz and Daniel Thieme and Tilo Weber and Joachim Wiest and Stefan Winkler and Gerhard Gstraunthaler",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.14573/altex.1705101",

language = "English",

volume = "35",

pages = "1--20",

journal = "Altex",

issn = "1868-596X",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

van der Valk, J, Bieback, K, Buta, C, Cochrane, B, Dirks, W, Fu, J, Hickman, J, Hohensee, C, Kolar, R, Liebsch, M, Pistollato, F, Schulz, M, Thieme, D, Weber, T, Wiest, J, Winkler, S & Gstraunthaler, G 2018, 'Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future', Altex, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.1705101

Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future. / van der Valk, Jan; Bieback, Karen ; Buta, Christiane et al.
In: Altex, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2018, p. 1-20.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future

AU - van der Valk, Jan

AU - Bieback, Karen

AU - Buta, Christiane

AU - Cochrane, Brett

AU - Dirks, Wilhelm

AU - Fu, Jianan

AU - Hickman, James

AU - Hohensee, Christiane

AU - Kolar, Roman

AU - Liebsch, Manfred

AU - Pistollato, Francesca

AU - Schulz, Markus

AU - Thieme, Daniel

AU - Weber, Tilo

AU - Wiest, Joachim

AU - Winkler, Stefan

AU - Gstraunthaler, Gerhard

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - The supplementation of culture medium with fetal bovine serum (FBS, also referred to as ‘fetal calf serum’) is still common practice in cell culture applications. Due to a number of disadvantages in terms of quality and reproducibility of in vitro data, animal welfare concerns, and in light of recent cases of fraudulent marketing, the search for alternatives and the development of serum-free medium formulations gained global attention. Here, we report on the 3rd Workshop on FBS, Serum Alternatives and Serum-free Media, where (a) regulatory aspects, (b) the serum dilemma, (c) alternatives to FBS, (d) case-studies of serum-free in vitro applications, and (e) the establishment of serum-free databases, were discussed.The whole process of obtaining blood from a living calf fetus to using the FBS produced from it for scientific purposes is de facto not yet legally regulated, despite the existing EU-Directive 2010/63/EU on the use of animals for scientific purposes. Together with above mentioned challenges, several strategies have been developed to reduce or replace FBS in cell culture media in terms of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction, Replacement). Most recently, releasates of activated human donor thrombocytes (human platelet lysates) have been shown to be one of the most promising serum alternatives when chemically defined media are not yet an option. Additionally, new developments in cell-based assay techniques, advanced organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems are covered in this report. Chemically-defined serum-free media are shown to be the ultimate goal for the majority of culture systems, and examples are discussed.

AB - The supplementation of culture medium with fetal bovine serum (FBS, also referred to as ‘fetal calf serum’) is still common practice in cell culture applications. Due to a number of disadvantages in terms of quality and reproducibility of in vitro data, animal welfare concerns, and in light of recent cases of fraudulent marketing, the search for alternatives and the development of serum-free medium formulations gained global attention. Here, we report on the 3rd Workshop on FBS, Serum Alternatives and Serum-free Media, where (a) regulatory aspects, (b) the serum dilemma, (c) alternatives to FBS, (d) case-studies of serum-free in vitro applications, and (e) the establishment of serum-free databases, were discussed.The whole process of obtaining blood from a living calf fetus to using the FBS produced from it for scientific purposes is de facto not yet legally regulated, despite the existing EU-Directive 2010/63/EU on the use of animals for scientific purposes. Together with above mentioned challenges, several strategies have been developed to reduce or replace FBS in cell culture media in terms of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction, Replacement). Most recently, releasates of activated human donor thrombocytes (human platelet lysates) have been shown to be one of the most promising serum alternatives when chemically defined media are not yet an option. Additionally, new developments in cell-based assay techniques, advanced organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems are covered in this report. Chemically-defined serum-free media are shown to be the ultimate goal for the majority of culture systems, and examples are discussed.

KW - serum-free

KW - cell culture

KW - databases

KW - 3Rs

KW - replace

U2 - 10.14573/altex.1705101

DO - 10.14573/altex.1705101

M3 - Article

SN - 1868-596X

VL - 35

SP - 1

EP - 20

JO - Altex

JF - Altex

IS - 1

ER -

van der Valk J, Bieback K, Buta C, Cochrane B, Dirks W, Fu J et al. Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS): Past – Present – Future. Altex. 2018;35(1):1-20. doi: 10.14573/altex.1705101