Ham's F-10 Nutrient Mixture (F-10) was designed for serum-free growth of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. F-10 has since been used for serum-free growth of CHO cultures as well as serum-supplemented growth of other mammalian cells, including COS-7, primary rat astrocytes, and rat prostate epithelial cells.


The complete formulation is available.

Using Ham's F-10
Compared to other basal media, F-10 contains a wider variety of components, including zinc, hypoxanthine, and thymidine. Serum-free growth of CHO cells in F-10 has led to a variety of improved formulations, such as Ham's F-12 Nutrient Mixture (F-12). F-10 contains no proteins or growth factors. Therefore, F-10 requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). F-10 uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (1.2 g/L), and therefore requires a 5–10% CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.

cGMP manufacturing and quality system
F-10 is manufactured at a cGMP-compliant facility located in Grand Island, New York. The facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to ISO 13485 standards. For supply chain continuity, we offer an identical F-10 product made in our Scotland facility (31550-015). This facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standard.