Freeze Protect Medium

Freeze Protect is a serum-free, ready-to-use freezing medium that has been optimized for the cryopreservation of animal and human cells (adherent and suspension cells). The chemically defined medium contains various salts, sugars, DMSO and other antifreeze agents. It is protein-free and is particularly suitable for the preservation of serum-free cultured cells due to its serum-free formulation. The optimized formulation of the medium guarantees very high cell viability after the thawing process. The risk of contamination with viruses, BSE or immunoreactive proteins is excluded as it does not contain any human or animal components.

In order to create in vivo conditions for cell growth in the cell culture, serum is always added to the medium. Serum serves the cells as a source of growth factors, lipids, hormones and minerals. High-quality sera are usually expensive and the composition is not precisely defined. For this reason, serum-free media are produced. These media contain additives that enable cell cultivation without the addition of serum.

Serum-free media are generally divided into:

1. Non-defined serum-free media (can have undefined plant and animal components)
2. Chemically-defined serum-free media (only with components of known structure and weight)
3. Protein-free media (absolutely free of proteins; usually with hydrolysates)
4. Xeno-free media (free of proteins of non-human origin)

The use of serum-free media offers more consistency and reproducibility in cell culture. This makes cell cultivation more controllable and minimizes the risk of contamination. It also reduces costs by eliminating serum and simplifies downstream protein purification (protein yield is often higher).