The Dire Need for Alternatives: Fetal Bovine Serum
What if I told you that thousands of scientific studies could contain misleading results?
Fetal bovine serum, or FBS, is a growth media constantly utilized in the research field. It was created by Theodore Puck in the 1950s to “stimulate cellular growth in cell and tissue culture.”
And fetal bovine serum does just that! It is a vital resource for cell proliferation and maintenance. It is even considered to be the “universal supplement” in culturing media. FBS provides a host of benefits that play a role in maintenance during cell proliferation, including hormones, vitamins, etc. for the cells to rapidly grow.
It’s clearly a major player in the world of cell and tissue culture, but fetal bovine serum does have its downfalls that can have major consequences when put into use.
Ethical Concerns
The collection of fetal bovine serum, as suggested by its name…
fetal → fetus, bovine → cattle
FBS comes from the blood of fetal calves. It is collected from slaughterhouses as a byproduct of the meatpacking industry. When pregnant cows are slaughtered, the fetal blood is retrieved.
