What is the difference between Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) and Fetal Calf Serum (FCS)?

There is no difference. These are different names for the same product. Serum derived from blood of bovine fetuses is referred to as Fetal Bovine Serum or Fetal Calf Serum.

Should I use heat inactivated fetal bovine serum?

Heat inactivation, in general, decreases the growth promoting properties of the serum and causes increased formation of crystalline or flocculent precipitates (salts, proteins, lipids, fibrin, etc.) in the Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) as well as in other serum products. In fact, for many cell culture applications, heat inactivation may be unnecessary. Warming the serum-containing medium to 37˚C prior to use, as is the practice in many cell culture laboratories, is often sufficient to inactivate heat-labile complement factors. Heat inactivated FBS is frequently used in immunological applications.Since every cell type has different growth requirements, the choice of whether to heat inactivate your serum or not must be made by the researcher. If you have concerns about whether to use heat inactivated serum with your cell line or not, perform a side-by-side comparison of cell growth with heat inactivated versus non-heat inactivated serum.For your convenience, R&D Systems offers all serum with or without heat-inactivation.

Why is there lot-to-lot variability in serum?

Fetal Bovine Serum and other serum products contain a complex mixture of biological components, a majority of which have not yet been fully defined. The composition of these serum components naturally varies from lot-to-lot.The best serum lot for you is the one that works for your cells in your specific application. R&D Systems serum manufacturing has a 40 year history of experience, which provides some of the most consistent serum on the market. We can help you select the serum lot that is ideal for your application by offering a variety of programs such as lot matching, free samples for lot prequalification, extended lot reserves, and free on-site serum storage, geared towards minimizing the impact of serum variability for our customers.

Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium Best Seller

Name: Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium
Brand: R&D Systems
SKU: S11150
Rating: 5 (8 reviews)

R&D Systems, part of Bio-Techne | Catalog # S11150

(8)

Citations (112)

Product Datasheet / COA / SDS

20% Off ECM, Media, Buffers, and Serum with Promo Code CULTURE20! See T&C

Atlanta Biologicals serum products are now sold under the R&D Systems brand.

Want to experience the quality our FBS brings to cell culture? Try a Sample!

Please Note: An additional $10/bottle handling fee will be applied for 500 mL bottles.

Key Product Details

Features:	Fetal Bovine Serum – Premium is a low-endotoxin, low-hemoglobin FBS that offers excellent value for basic cell culture as well as for specific research applications. Premium grade FBS is most widely used due to its unique combination of quality and value. Fetal Bovine Serum – Premium demonstrates excellent performance with a broad spectrum of cell types.
Key Benefits:	Most widely used FBS from R&D Systems Excellent value and performance for general cell culture applications High lot-to-lot consistency Manufactured from USA-origin or USDA-approved Excellent cell growth characteristics, low endotoxin, and low hemoglobin levels Manufactured in our ISO 9001:2015 certified facility Formerly sold under the Atlanta Biologicals brand

Technical Data
Citations / Reviews (8) / FAQs

Summary for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Why Use Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium?

Fetal Bovine Serum, also known as Fetal Calf Serum (FCS), is a critical supplement added to cell culture medium to maintain cell health and promote expansion. Different grades of FBS are available from R&D Systems that address the value and premium needs of research.

All lots of Fetal Bovine Serum – Premium are sterility, virus, and performance tested, and include a biochemical profile. Lots are manufactured from USA origin or USDA-approved origin material following stringent manufacturing and quality control procedures. All lots of FBS - Premium are manufactured in our ISO 9001:2015 certified facility.

Fetal Bovine Serum and other serum products should be stored and handled correctly to assure long-term stability and to preserve growth performance consistency throughout its shelf-life. In addition, heat inactivation of serum is frequently desired to inactivate complement within the serum. Below are protocol links for serum storage/handling and heat inactivation.

Protocol for Fetal Bovine Serum Storage, Thawing, and Freezing.
Protocol for Heat Inactivation of Serum Products.

Collection, Processing, and Testing of R&D Systems FBS

Collection and Processing - R&D Systems FBS is manufactured under a process that meets USDA requirements for animal products and ensures the product is traceable back to the date and location of collection. Our FBS manufacturing adheres to closed-system collection, processing in positive pressure, HEPA-filtered clean rooms, and triple 0.1 um filtration to remove contaminants. Strict control of the process from collection through processing enables us to provide a stable, consistent performing, and traceable supply of quality serum throughout global fluctuations in serum availability and regulatory requirements.

Virus Testing - Fetal Bovine Serum – Premium undergoes testing for adventitious viruses, such as: Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus (IBRV), Parainfluenza-3 Virus (PI-3V), Bluetongue Virus (BTV), Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV), Bovine Parvovirus (BPV), Bovine Adenovirus, Type 3 (BAV-3), Bovine Adenovirus, Type 5 (BAV-5), Reo virus, and Rabies virus.

Biochemical Testing - R&D Systems FBS undergo biochemical profiling including total protein, albumin, globulin, IgG, total bilirubin, glucose, iron, cholesterol, triglycerides, sodium and potassium. View the product insert for a complete list of biochemical profiling components, which may vary between grades.

Chemical Analysis - Each lot of FBS is tested for osmolality, pH, hemoglobin, endotoxin (LAL method) and microbiological contamination (using methods recommended by the U.S. Pharmacopeia).

Product Specifications for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Species	Bovine
Applications	Cell Culture
Formulation	Liquid
Purification	Triple 0.1 μm filtered
Osmolality	280 -335 mOsm
Sterility Testing	Pass
Cell Culture Testing	Pass
Biochemical Test Panel	Extended
Viral Testing	Standard
Additional Testing	pH - 6.8-7.8 Endotoxin - ≤ 50.0 EU/mL by Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) Assay Hemoglobin - 25 mg/dL

Scientific Data Examples for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

	Premium Fetal Bovine Serum Displays Lot-to-Lot Consistency. Quality control data for over 80 lots of Premium FBS shows high levels of performance consistency. (A) Plating efficiency of cells cultured in media containing 5% or 10% Premium FBS, relative to control lots of FBS. (B) Premium FBS was tested for its ability to support hybridoma cloning as well as the healthy expansion of adherent and suspension cell culture lines. Lots of Premium FBS show consistent and high percentage cloning efficiency and cell viability.
	Growth of Mesenchymal Stem Cells using Premium FBS. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were cultured for 4 passages in media supplemented with Premium FBS or an alternate FBS supplier (Supplier #1). MSCs were analyzed by flow cytometry using PE-conjugated CD90 (R&D Systems, Catalog # FAB2067P) and APC-conjugated CD45 (R&D Systems, Catalog # FAB1430A). (A) Percentage of CD90⁺ MSCs following four passages in culture. (B) Representative flow cytometry data of CD90⁺ human MSCs cultured for 4 passages in Premium Grade FBS.

Preparation & Storage

Shipping Conditions	On Dry Ice
Storage	-5 to -20 °C

Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium Best Seller

R&D Systems, part of Bio-Techne | Catalog # S11150

Key Product Details

Summary for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Why Use Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium?

Collection, Processing, and Testing of R&D Systems FBS

Product Specifications for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Scientific Data Examples for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Preparation & Storage

FAQs for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Product Documents for Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium

Product Datasheets

COA

Certificate of Analysis

SDS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Stay Connected