Fetal Bovine Serum, qualified, heat inactivated, United States
Fetal Bovine Serum, qualified, heat inactivated, United States
Gibco™

Fetal Bovine Serum, qualified, heat inactivated, United States

Important Update: We've recently introduced Premium Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) specification-based products. These improved products are alternatives to our Qualified US origin SKUs. Product stability, performance, manufacturing, storage, and transport processes are unchanged.
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Catalog NumberQuantityFormat
A384010150 mLOne Shot
A384010210 x 50 mLOne Shot
16140071500 mLBottle
161400891000 mLBottle
Our improved Premium Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) features enhanced specifications with unchanged stability, manufacturing, storage, and transport processes.
Catalog number A3840101
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Gibco fetal bovine sera offer excellent value for basic cell culture, specialty research, and specific assays, earning the trust of researchers with consistent quality and award-winning support that helps meet your research needs and budget requirements

  • Sera Category: Value Plus (Performance)
  • Origin: United States.
  • Endotoxin level: ≤10 EU/mL
  • Hemoglobin level: ≤25 mg/dL
For research use or further manufacturing use only. Serum and blood proteins are not for direct administration into humans or animals.
Specifications
DescriptionFetal Bovine Serum, heat inactivated, qualified, One Shot™, United States
Endotoxin Concentration≤10 EU/mL
Hemoglobin Concentration≤25 mg/dL
Product LineOne Shot
Purity or Quality GradeQualified
Shipping ConditionFrozen
SpeciesBovine
AgeFetal
Country of OriginUnited States
FormLiquid
FormatOne Shot
Product TypeFetal Bovine Serum
Quantity50 mL
Serum TreatmentHeat-inactivated
SterilitySterile
Sterilization MethodTriple-filtered, 0.1 μm
Unit SizeEach
Contents & Storage
Storage conditions: ≤-10°C
Shipping conditions: Frozen

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What are the benefits and disadvantages of using heat-inactivated FBS in cell culture?

  1. Heating inactivates complement. Active complement can participate in cytolytic events, contract smooth muscle, release histamine from mast cells and platelets, and activate lymphocytic and macrophage cells. Applications where heat-inactivated serum is recommended include immunological studies and culturing of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), insect cells, and smooth muscle cells.
  2. Heat inactivation helps to achieve bottle-to-bottle and lot-to-lot stability by neutralizing many factors that can vary largely from lot to lot.
  3. There aren't necessarily disadvantages to heat inactivation of FBS, but there is some evidence that suggests there may be no added benefit to it unless you are carrying out immune studies.

Note: Heat inactivation is performed in a 56 degrees C water bath for 30 min with swirling every 10 min or so for heat distribution and to lower the degree of protein aggregation/flocculant precipitation. Note: If the time or temperature is exceeded, the serum may thicken to a gel. If this occurs, the serum is no longer usable. Unnecessary heat inactivation can take up time and potentially lead to wasted reagents if a mistake is made during the protocol1.

1. Pellerin, et al., Bioengineering, published in 2021.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Mammalian Cell Culture Basics Support Center.

When should I use heat-inactivated serum?

Heat-inactivation of serum inactivates the “complements” in the serum. In general, it is not necessary to use heat-inactivated serum to culture most cell types. We recommend using heat-inactivated serum when working with immune type cells or for immunological applications.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.

I would like to order heat-inactivated FBS. What conditions do you use for heat-inactivation of FBS during the manufacturing process?

Serum is heat inactivated by heating at 56 degrees C in a water bath for 30 min, swirling the bottle approximately every 10 minutes.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.

What is the shelf life of Fetal Bovine Serum, qualified, United States once thawed? Can I refreeze it after thawing?

The stability after opening and thawing is application-dependent and most often, it is used within a week or less. The product can be thawed and refrozen. This is standard practice for making aliquots. We recommend that you make smaller aliquots and use as needed.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.

What is the difference between "qualified" versus "certified" purity grade FBS?

The main difference is in the Quality Control (QC) test specifications. “Qualified” and “Certified” FBS go through the same QC tests but “Certified” FBS has additional QC tests as well as more stringent QC test specifications for endotoxin and hemoglobin levels. The additional QC tests in “Certified” FBS include biochemical and hormonal profiling.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Cell Culture Support Center.

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