Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is a common component of animal cell culture media. It is harvested from bovine fetuses taken from pregnant cows during slaughter.
FBS is commonly harvested by means of a cardiac puncture without any form of anaesthesia.
Why is fetal bovine serum used in vaccines?
When viruses are growing in cells, they need a source of nutritional ingredients. In some instances fetal bovine serum is the source of these growth factors. Once the viruses are harvested, they undergo multiple processing and purification steps before the final product is released to the market.
What does fetal bovine serum contain?
Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the liquid fraction of clotted blood from fetal calves, depleted of cells, fibrin and clotting factors, but containing a large number of nutritional and macromolecular factors essential for cell growth. Bovine serum albumin is the major component of FBS.
What animal DNA is in vaccines?
Animal-derived products used in vaccine manufacture can include amino acids, glycerol, detergents, gelatin, enzymes and blood. Cow milk is a source of amino acids, and sugars such as galactose. Cow tallow derivatives used in vaccine manufacture include glycerol. Gelatin and some amino acids come from cow bones.
Is fetal bovine serum in vaccines?
But fetal bovine serum (FBS), a blood byproduct of the meat industry, is a crucial building block for vaccines. So scientists making the vaccines need to know precisely which country the serum is coming from because the serum could contain specific bovine viruses or infectious agents.
Some facts about, Bovine Serum
Fetal bovine serum is a by-product of the dairy industry. Fetal bovine serum, as with the vast majority of animal serum used in cell culture, is produced from blood collected at commercial slaughterhouses from dairy cattle that also supply meat intended for human consumption.
The first stage of the production process for fetal bovine serum is the harvesting of blood from the bovine fetus after the fetus is removed from the slaughtered cow. The blood is collected aseptically into a sterile container or blood bag and then allowed to clot. The normal method of collection is cardiac puncture, wherein a needle is inserted into the heart. This minimizes "the danger of serum contamination with micro-organisms from the fetus itself, and the environment". It is then centrifuged to remove the fibrin clot and the remaining blood cells form the clear yellow (straw) colored serum. The serum is frozen prior to further processing that is necessary to make it suitable for cell culture.
Ethical questions have been raised regarding the blood collection process due to the potential suffering caused to the fetus. Although anoxia or active slaughter could be used to induce unconsciousness or death prior to serum harvesting, exposure of live unborn calves to oxygen can cause them to gain awareness before being killed, resulting in active debate about the ethics of harvesting serum
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