Basal Medium Eagle (BME)

Basal Medium Eagle (BME) is a widely used synthetic basal medium for supporting the growth of many different mammalian cells. BME was originally developed by Harry Eagle for HeLa cells and mouse fibroblasts, when he discovered the minimum requirements for cell growth in vitro. BME has since been used for other human lines, including WI-38 and MRC-5.

This BME is manufactured as follows:

• With: Phenol Red
• Without: L-glutamine, HEPES

The complete formulation is available.

BME contains eight B vitamins, the ten essential amino acids, plus cystine, tyrosine, and glutamine. There are a number of modifications of BME: Minimal Essential Medium, Glasgow's Medium and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium. This BME formulation contains Earle's salts for use in a CO₂ incubator.

BME contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors. Therefore, BME requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). BME uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (2.2 g/L) and therefore requires a 5-10% CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.