Yearly Archives - 2018

Serum is commonly used as a supplement to basal growth medium in cell culture. The most common type of serum used for cell growth is fetal bovine serum (FBS), also known as fetal calf serum (FCS). FBS remains and important and major component of cell culture research here in the UK.

Fetal bovine serum is obtained from fetuses harvested in abattoirs from healthy dams fit for human consumption.

In cell culture, serum provides a wide variety of macromolecular proteins, low molecular weight nutrients, carrier proteins for water – insoluble components, and other compounds necessary for in vitro growth of cells, such as hormones and attachment factors. Serum also adds buffering capacity to the medium and binds or neutralises toxic components.

The selection of a serum supplement for cell culture applications is primarily dependent on the chemical definition of the basal medium, the type of cell to be grown, and the culture system being employed. For instance, we have Certified Fetal Bovine Serum Qualified for Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in addition to Standard Certified FBS, which can be used on a broad range of cells.

Two distinct grades of FBS are available on the world market: USDA-Grade FBS and European-Grade FBS. USDA-Grade FBS is produced from raw materials originating only from countries certified to be free of both BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and FMD (Foot and Mouth Disease). This product can be freely imported into any country, and is the product of choice in all countries for manufacturing purposes.

Furthermore, only the use of this product allows researchers to send their cells, or the products of their cells, to collaborators in other countries with strict import regulations. All FBS processed in the Biological Industries plant is USDA-Grade.

Biological Industries’ products are manufactured in compliance with the quality management standard ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485:2003.

Certifications are available upon request.

Since serum, as a biological material, represents an undefined mixture of components in which composition varies from one lot to the other. Some cell types are sensitive to the variations in serum performance. We encourage our customers and provide them with the opportunity to evaluate serum samples with their own culture system and cells while we reserve the quantities of the specific lots until customer testing is completed. In this way, you may choose the best serum for your own applications.

Please feel free to contact us with any specific questions or requirements of a potential order of any of our FBS products.

If you have recently sampled, are currently using or have used any of Biological Industries products in the past then you could be in with a chance of wining an iPad. Simply Complete a Biological Industries product review for a chance to win.

Whether you have sampled the new Nutristem V9 media, a defined xeno-free and serum-free medium designed for optimal expansion of hPSCs in feeder-free conditions using vitronectin, or use the Aquaguard 1 and 2 solutions for preventing the contamination of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi and mycoplasma in your incubator and workbench water baths, simply complete a one-minute product review to be in with a chance of winning.

Simply head to the Biological Industries website and search for the catalogue number or the name of the product you would like to review. Once on the product page, simply click the “Reviews” tab and write your review of the product and enter a star rating.

Both Biological Industries and ourselves value your opinion and feedback and allow us and help us to help serve you and others better. In your review feel free you write about protocol overview advice, experimental conditions or methods used in your experiments, results you have seen whilst using the products and any other helpful tips and advice on how best to use the product.

By entering your email address on the BI website and  completing a Biological Industries product review, they promise not to pass on or sell your information. Your email address will only be used to notify the winner of the iPad. One winner will be chosen monthly. Please can all product reviews be written and submitted in English. You may enter an unlimited amount of reviews on any Biological Industries product. Upon submission of a product review, a moderator will review and accept based on their community guidelines. Please keep in mind not all submission will be accepted based on content violations (be helpful and relevant, respect others, no solicitations, sexual content, infringing content, or illegal activity). For full terms and conditions please follow this link.

RegMedNet recently conducted a survey regarding the current trends and future developments in mesenchymal stem cell research. The survey was available to all members of the RegMedNet community and was completed by scientists, students, technicians and group leaders from both academia and from biotechnology and medical device companies. The survey collected information on the type of MSC research currently being undertaken, the type and source of stem cells used, what conditions the MSCs are cultured in and the current challenges facing researchers working with MSCs amongst other things.

The survey showed that adipose-derived MSCs are the most commonly utilised mesenchymal stem cells, closely followed by MSCs sourced from bone marrow. Regardless of the source of the MSCs, 90% of researchers that took part in the survey are utilising MSCs for regenerative medicine purposes. This further emphasises the fact that MSCs have become a very attractive and desirable tool in tissue engineering and cell therapy approaches. Only 14% were using MSCs for disease modelling and 11% for drug discovery and cytotoxicity testing.

The survey appears to suggest that musculoskeletal disease states and conditions, including arthritis, are the area that are attracting the most studies into the therapeutic use of MSCs. This may be unsurprising due to their multi-lineage differentiation potential and well-documented differentiation into chondrocytes, osteocytes and adipocytes. The disease states and indications that MSCs are being employed in vary greatly though. This is highlighted in the fact that there are multiple studies on-going into the causes and treatment of spinal cord injuries, cardiovascular diseases and critical limb ischemia, to name just a few.

One of the statistics to come out of this survey that was particularly interesting was relating to the challenges that those undertaking mesenchymal stem cell research face and what is needed to overcome them. Around a quarter of those surveyed expressed their biggest problem being with maintaining the phenotype and function of their MSCs and a fifth of people stated the biggest issue involved the expansion of the cells. 44% of people have specified improved cell culture products as the thing that is needed to overcome these issues.

To any researchers experiencing these problems I would strongly recommend trying Biological Industries MSC Nutristem media and requesting a sample from us. The quality of the culture medium that you use and its performance are especially important with regards to the therapeutic applications, since the properties of hMSCs are significantly affected by medium components and culture conditions. By using MSC Nutristem you are using a defined, serum-free and xeno-free medium optimised for the isolation and expansion of hMSCs, from a variety of sources (AT, WJ, BM, DP, PL, UC), which facilitates the development of robust, clinically acceptable culture processes for reproducibly generating quality-assured cells.

To keep up to date with more news and information, on mesenchymal stem cell research and much more, make sure to follow us on Twitter: @CellsecoLtd

Ben, our Business Development Manager, recently attended the Interactive Stem Cell Forum that was hosted by Axol Bioscience and Metrion Bioscience at Granta Science Park on 23rd May. The event was themed on stem cell research and covered a range of topics including the role of pluripotent stem cells in disease modeling, tissue engineering and in preclinical drug safety assays.

The day started with a series of talks and presentations from leading academics and industrial scientists. Dr Matthew Daniels, from the University of Oxford, spoke about his group’s research into the use of genetically encoded indicators as alternatives to traditional chemical dyes when studying iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes. Dr Sarah Williams of Metrion discussed her work into the use iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes in disease modeling and how they can be utilized in preclinical safety screenings. Dr Gareth Miles, whose group is based at the University of St Andrews, reviewed his research that involved the use human induced pluripotent stem cells to aid in the investigation in the pathophysiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Continuing on the theme of stem cells in neurodegenerative studies, Dr Zoe Nilsson of Axol explained how she had been researching microglia, derived from iPSCs, and the role they play in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Dr Eric Hill of Aston Universtiy described some of the novel and innovative ways in which his group were modeling Alzheimers’s disease and some of their tissue engineering approaches.

In the afternoon Metrion hosted a laboratory session where they demonstrated how they perform some of their ion channel screening services. They demonstrated some conventional electrophysiology, MEA systems and QPatch48 and how they are utilized within their laboratory.

This was a really great event that allowed researchers to present some of their fascinating and pioneering research but also interact with one another to share ideas to help continue progression in their field.