Is it necessary to heat inactivate FCS for use with Normal Human Cells?

The practice of heat inactivation was originally developed when only serum from adult animals was available. Adult serum contains high serum complement which may destroy cells under certain conditions.

Heating serum (30 min, 56°C) is intended to inactivate the complement.

Today, serum is often heat-inactivated without any evidence of beneficial effect. When using FCS (fetal calf serum), heat inactivation is not necessary for most cell lines or cell types.

PromoCell does not use heat-inactivated serum for the production of its growth media.