Method for culturing insect cells in a medium containing fish serum
AssigneeSea Run Holdings, Inc.
InventorsEvelyn S. Sawyer, Philip J. Sawyer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for culturing insect cells using fish serum. The method uses serum extracted from the blood of fish to culture insect cells for various purposes. The technique has the key advantages of consistent quality, low cross reactivity, safety from infectious agents that would endanger researchers or humans and animals receiving cell culture products as therapy and has appropriate nutrients to maintain the growth of insect cells. Fish serum is used together with designated defined medium to allow insect cells to grow and populations to be maintained. The method may also be used to prevent the attachment of insect cells to cultureware. Serum is derived from the blood of captive stocks of fishes raised under control conditions.
Claims13
A method of culturing insect cells comprising culturing the insect cells in culture medium comprising a defined serum free culture medium supplemented with thawed, prepared fish serum, wherein said fish serum is prepared by:
- a. raising fish under controlled conditions such that the diet, habitat, genetics, life history, and reproductive status of the fish remain substantially constant and reproducible;
- b. starving the fish for up to about forty-eight hours;
- c. stunning the fish by non-toxic methods until the fish is unconscious;
- d. withdrawing whole blood from the fish;
- e. allowing the blood to clot;
- f. centrifuging the blood until the blood serum is separated from the blood cells;
- g. removing the serum;
- h. sterilizing the serum;
- and
- i. freezing the serum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.