DSMZ adapts cancer cell lines to animal-free media

By AI, Created 4:38 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – The DSMZ says it has adapted four widely used human cancer cell lines to FBS-free media, aiming to cut animal suffering and improve reproducibility in cancer research. The institute is now making the first of those lines available through its catalogue, alongside molecular data to help labs judge whether the alternative media fit their projects.

Why it matters: - Fetal bovine serum, or FBS, is widely used in cell culture but comes with ethical concerns because its production involves animal suffering. - FBS also adds scientific noise because its composition varies, which can hurt reproducibility in cancer research. - The DSMZ is trying to make FBS-free culture easier to adopt by providing adapted cancer cell lines and supporting data.

What happened: - The working group Tumor Biology at the DSMZ adapted four human cancer cell lines to animal-component-free media: HeLa, HL-60, K-562 and JIMT-1. - The study used human platelet lysate and chemically defined media as replacements for FBS. - The findings were published in Alternatives to Animal Experimentation. - The first line available in the DSMZ catalogue is HL-60, adapted to a completely chemically defined medium, with a catalogue entry.

The details: - Comprehensive macroscopic and molecular characterisation showed the cancer-relevant features of the cell lines were maintained in FBS-free culture. - The DSMZ says the adapted lines are suitable for research in the same way as FBS-containing cultures. - The original paper is titled “Multiparametric evaluation of different FBS-free replacement media for widely used human cancer cell lines.” - The paper was published by Koelz, Pommerenke, Woitschewski, Merkhoffer, Dirks and Eberth in 2026 in ALTEX - Alternatives to Animal Experimentation. - The paper carries the DOI 10.14573/altex.2512111. - The DSMZ says alternative media are not universally applicable, so each cell line still has to be tested individually.

Between the lines: - The project tackles two problems at once: animal welfare concerns and reproducibility challenges in lab work. - By banking adapted lines, the DSMZ is shifting part of the technical burden away from individual labs. - Dr. Sonja Eberth said researchers can now make a data-driven decision about whether an FBS-free culture suits a specific project.

What’s next: - The DSMZ plans to keep expanding access to successfully adapted and characterised cancer cell lines through its catalogue. - More labs may be able to move to FBS-free culture without spending time and money on adaptation work first. - Wider uptake will depend on whether alternative media perform reliably across more cell types and research settings.

The bottom line: - The DSMZ is turning FBS-free cancer cell culture from a lab-by-lab experiment into a shared resource, which could reduce animal use and improve consistency in research.