If I understand the application correctly, it seems to be primarily in the research field, not in actual Cell Therapy use. If so, what is the advantage of serum-free over using serum in the culture if it is for research only?
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Using Intestinal Organoids for Intestinal and Stem Cell Research
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As with all therapeutics, primary research is essential to ensure any procedure is safe and effective as a treatment. Experiments have already been performed demonstrating the feasibility of re-integration of intestinal cells in mice (1). This serves as a proof-of-concept for future, more advanced treatments requiring that the culture medium is serum-free and defined. The use of serum in media also introduces an additional level of variability that most researchers find undesirable.
(1) Yui S, et al. Nat Med 18: 618-623, 2012