
Cellsinculturerequireasourceofnutrition,typicallyprovidedbycellculturemedia.Themajorityofthesemediarequiretheadditionofanimalserumforcellstoobtainthepropernutrientstogrowadequately.Serumisanimportantsourceofproteins,lipids,vitamins,aminoacids,salts,minerals,attachmentfactors,growthfactors,hormones,andothercomponentsessentialforcellgrowth.
Iron-SupplementedCalfSerum(ISCS)isproducedfromserumof2weeksto12monthsoldformulafedcalvesandissupplementedwithiron.Formulafedcalfserumhasexceptionallyhighlevelsoftransferrin,andthereforethecapacitytobindhigherlevelsofiron.Aftersupplementationwithaferricsalt,AtlantaBIOLOGicalsbrandIron-SupplementedCalfSerumcontainsuptofourtimesasmuchavailableironandtransferrinasFetalBovineSerum(FBS).ItcanproducegrowthcurvescomparabletothatofFBSinmanycellculturesystems.