 |
Storage |
Upon receipt, frozen FBS should be immediately
moved into a -20°C (or below) freezer and protected from light; it should
not be allowed to thaw until ready for use. FBS should last more than five
years under these conditions. We do not recommend that FBS be defrosted and
refrozen more than once. |
| Thawing |
We recommend rapid thawing: warm the frozen
FBS at room temperature for 10 minutes, and then place into a 37°C
water-bath. Rapid thawing limits high salt concentrations, which can
potentially degrade serum proteins. Gently rotate-do not shake as this can
cause detrimental foaming. FBS should be removed from the water bath when
fully thawed, and not be allowed to warm to ambient temperature. When
thawed, FBS is normally a clear amber solution; however, there may be small
amounts of crystalline precipitates (salts, lipids, & proteins), which will
not affect performance. Filtration of these precipitates is usually not
necessary or recommended. Thawed FBS should be stored at 4°C and used with
2-3 weeks. |
| Usage |
FBS is typically used at 1-20% (vol) for media
preparation in tissue culture, with 10% (vol) being the most common. |
| Batch Variation |
As FBS is a complex animal product, there can
be significant batch-to-batch variation. While we performance-test each
batch on several common cell lines, we recommend that end-users batch test
sera on their particular cell line(s); we provide free samples for testing
and can reserve batch lots if so requested. |
