Essential 8 Media System

Just what stem cells need.
Nothing they don’t.

Starting with the original formulation, Gibco Essential 8 Medium is our most defined and consistent feeder-free medium for induced pluripotent stem cell culture. It has been optimized for a wide variety of applications to help researchers achieve ultimate control over their PSC culture systems.

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Essential 8 Resources

Gibco PSC Media are manufactured according to cGMP for medical devices, 21 CFR Part 820

Where do you need more control over your PSC Culture?

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Routine PSC maintenance and expansion

stress
E8 media

Transition to clinical research

Where would you like to gain control? Compare Essential 8 for different applications.

PSC maintenance and expansionEssential 8 Medium
  • Consistent—no BSA reducing variability compared to existing feeder-free culture media
  • Cost effective—economical and scalable PSC culture compared to other feeder-free media
  • Robust—reliable and consistent cultures with a xeno-free, cGMP defined medium
Flexible feeding scheduleEssential 8 Flex Medium
  • Eliminate daily feeding—Stabilized FGF2 enables maintenance of pluripotency over a 2-day period without feeding cells and without adjustments to your typical culture protocol
  • Easy to transition—Same set-up, applications, and protocol as the original Essential 8 formulations
  • Proven—Based on the original Essential 8 formulation, maintains pluripotency and normal karyotypes in long-term culture
DifferentiationEssential 6 Medium
  • Enables differentiation—does not contain bFGF, thereby enabling embryoid body formation and directed differentiation
  • Flexibility—provides a flexible growth factor-free base where TGFβ, bFGF, or other proteins, molecules and supplements can be added to suit different applications
Stressful events
Essential 8 Medium + RevitaCell Supplement
  • Minimize the impact of stress—RevitaCell Supplement supports cells in stressful applications through a more specific ROCK inhibitor
  • Non-addictive—Shown to have a non-addictive impact on downstream cell utility unlike other ROCK inhibitors
  • Expanded applications—Enabling use of Essential 8 medium in applications where cells need additional support
Adaptation from feeder-based mediaEssential 8
Adaptation Kit
  • Confidently transition—adapt cells from feeder-dependent to feeder-free culture system with minimal effort and maximum cell viability
  • Physiologically relevant—expand cells with minimal differentiation

  • Scalable—passage stem cell lines as single cells with no impact to genetic stability
Transition from bench to clinical research
CTS Essential 8 Medium
  • Reduces risk—only globally available human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) culture medium without components derived directly from animals
  • GMP-grade—cGMP manufactured in an FDA registered facility for medical devices
  • Testing and regulatory documentation—FDA Drug Master Files available
Minimize the impact of stress – RevitaCell Supplement supports cells in stressful applications through a more specific ROCK inhibitor
Non-addictive – Shown to have a non-addictive impact on downstream cell utility unlike other ROCK inhibitors
Expanded applications – Enabling use of Essential 8 medium in applications where cells need additional support

Related products

The Essential 8 Media system and accompanying reagents provide the most defined and consistent culture conditions for pluripotent stem cells. Each of the recommended reagents across the following workflow is defined and  xeno-free, allowing for consistent results every time. Below is an example of a workflow advancing from reprogramming to differentiation utilizing the Essential 8 Media system.

Essential 8 Media System

essential 6

CytoTune-iPS 2.0  Sendai Reprogramming Kit  
contains a polycistronic vector which offers an increased reprogramming efficiency up to 1.2%

essential 8

Essential 8 Mediumcontains only the 8 necessary components needed for stem cell culture enabling more consistent culture

psc

PSC Cryopreservation Kitcontains a xeno-free, ready-to-use cryopreservation medium and a chemically defined recovery supplement, RevitaCell Supplement, that consistently recovers 50% more viable cells post-thaw

essential 6

Essential 6 Mediumdoes not contain bFGF which is used to prevent differentiation and maintain pluripotency

Resources

Support

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. Essential 8 and Essential 6 are trademarks of Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.