Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) is one of the most commonly used of all cell culture media. MEM can be used with a variety of suspension and adherent mammalian cells, including HeLa, BHK-21, 293, HEP-2, HT-1080, MCF-7, fibroblasts, and primary rat astrocytes. We offer a variety of Gibco™ MEM modifications for a range of cell culture applications. Find the right formulation using the media selector tool.
The complete formulation is available.

cGMP Manufacturing
Gibco™ MEM is manufactured at a cGMP compliant facility located in Paisley, Scotland, UK. The facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standard.

MEM contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors. Therefore, MEM requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). This MEM formulation does not require a CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.

Powder forms of Gibco™ cell culture medium require sodium bicarbonate supplementation, pH adjustment, and filtration at the time of preparation (see protocol for details).