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.

MEM composition

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 Gibco Media selection tool.

Choose the right Minimum Essential Medium

There are several factors to consider when selecting the right Gibco MEM composition
for your cell cultures, including format, supplementation, and additives. Our interactive
media selection tool helps enable easy selection of the MEM you need.

Innovative MEM formulations

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.

Advanced MEM

Gibco Advanced MEM is formulated with ingredients that allow for the reduction of serum supplementation by 50–90%, supporting cell growth while lowering your costs and reducing variability caused by lot-to-lot serum changes. 
 

Opti-MEM Reduced Serum Medium

Gibco Opti-MEM Reduced Serum Media, formulated for a reduction in serum supplementation by at least 50%, is ideal for use during cationic lipid transfection—especially with Invitrogen Lipofectamine transfection reagents.
 

BenchStable MEM

Gibco BenchStable MEM is formulated for storage at room temperature, freeing up valuable cold storage space while supporting cellular proliferation and densities comparable to conventional MEM.
 

MEM with GlutaMAX supplement

Gibco MEM with GlutaMAX supplement supplies your cells with a stable form of L-glutamine that does not spontaneously degrade in cell culture, improving cell health and viability by reducing the accumulation of toxic ammonia.
 

Customize your MEM media

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.

GMP manufacturing

Gibco cell culture products are manufactured in facilities compliant with current good manufacturing practices (GMP) and adhere to a robust quality management system, helping to ensure the consistency, reliability, and high quality you can rely on.
 

Sustainable solutions

We are committed to delivering products that serve the research needs of our customers, while striving to develop them in a way that minimizes our use of natural resources and our impact on the environment.
 

Resources and support

Resources

Gibco Media Selection Tool
Find the right Gibco media for your application.  Use this interactive tool to select media based upon culture type, components, additives, and format. 

 

Cell Culture Select Tool
Search your cell line of interest to find product recommendations and resources to help enable a successful cell culture.

 

Gibco Cell Culture Basics
Learn best practices and fundamentals of cell culture. Topics include aseptic technique and methods for the growth and maintenance of cells in culture.

 

Cell Culture Videos
Explore this collection of cell culture videos providing valuable insights into techniques, resources, and the latest advancements in the field.

 

Cell Culture & Transfection Learning Center
Access cell culture and transfection educational resources for better experiment planning and execution.

Support

Cell Culture & Transfection Support Center
Find technical support recommendations for your cell culture and transfection workflows, including tips for experimental setup and in-depth troubleshooting help.

 

Need technical support? Contact our expert team for technical and application support of Laboratory Products.

 

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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.