Gibco RPMI 1640 Medium (Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 Medium) was originally developed to culture human leukemic cells in suspension and as a monolayer. RPMI 1640 medium has since been found suitable for a variety of mammalian cells, including HeLa, Jurkat, MCF-7, PC12, PBMC, astrocytes, and carcinomas. We offer a variety of RPMI 1640 modifications for a range of cell culture applications. Find the right formulation using the media selector tool.

BenchStable RPMI 1640 Medium has been engineered for storage at room temperature while supporting cellular proliferation and maximum cell densities comparable to conventional RPMI 1640 Medium when supplemented with ≥10% fetal bovine serum (FBS).

This RPMI 1640 Medium is modified as follows:
• Optimized for room temperature stability
• With GlutaMAX, Phenol Red
• Without HEPES

Using BenchStable RPMI 1640 Medium
RPMI 1640 Medium is unique from other media because it contains the reducing agent glutathione and high concentrations of vitamins. RPMI 1640 Medium contains biotin, vitamin B12, and PABA, which are not found in Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium or Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium. In addition, the vitamins inositol and choline are present in very high concentrations. RPMI 1640 Medium uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (2.0 g/L) and so requires a 5–10% CO2 environment to maintain physiological pH. RPMI 1640 Medium with GlutaMAX supplement minimizes toxic ammonia build-up and improves cell viability and growth in an easy-to-use format. BenchStable RPMI 1640 Medium contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors and so requires supplementation with ≥10% fetal bovine serum (FBS).