ABSTRACT
One of the basic trends in the successful application of this technology is the development and use of serum-free media (SFM) for cultivating cells. Reasons for the trend include the undesirability of contaminating serum proteins, their high costs and concerns about possible adventitious agents contained in the serum. Although many insect cell lines do not require sera for growth (Goodwin and Adams 1980), process of removing serum fraction from the media is often a difficult process. Adaptation to SFM tends to be a trial-and-error procedure and certain cell lines appear to be less amenable to the adaptation process. For example, Zhang et al. (1992) failed to adapt a Bombyx mori (Linnaeus) cell line (Bm 5) to a serum-free formulation (IPL/41) despite repeated attempts. SFM for the parent cell line of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Sf) is well described by Weiss et al. (1981) and later for the Sf 9 cell line as well (Maiorella et al. 1988). Similar observations have been made in Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) cell lines (High Five), and are used for baculovirus expression (Davis et al. 1993).
