Minimum Essential Medium (MEM)

Culture your cells with Gibco Minimum Essential Medium

Gibco Minimum Essential Media (MEM), patterned after Eagle’s Media, is one of the most commonly used of all cell culture media and is well suited for the growth of a broad spectrum of mammalian cells. Compared to the earlier Basal Medium Eagle (BME), MEM is formulated with increased concentrations of amino acids. Today there are many other MEM formulations available, including Glasgow’s MEM, MEM α, DMEM, and Temin’s Modification.

MEM can be used with a variety of suspension and adherent mammalian cells, including HeLa, BHK-21, 293, HEP-2, HT-1080, MCF-7, fibroblasts, and primary rat astrocytes.

Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) contains a higher concentration of amino acids than Basal Medium Eagle (BME). MEM media may be formulated with Earle’s salts for maintenance of pH in a CO₂ incubator, or Hanks’ salts for maintenance of pH in atmospheric conditions. Because MEM media lacks proteins, lipids, or growth factors, it commonly requires supplementation with fetal bovine serum (FBS).

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a variety of MEM modifications for a range of cell culture applications—view an example of a detailed MEM formulation here. Learn about additional MEM formulation options using our Cell Culture Media Formulation Tool.

Take your cell culture to the next level with enhanced MEM formulations. Explore the following formulations that can help improve your cell viability, serum supplementation, transfection experiments, and cold storage constraints.

If you require a custom MEM formulation for your cell culture experiments, our media customization services can provide you with the media you need, including custom components, packaging, and QC testing.

Explore services for MEM customization