Quick Definition
What is Animal Component-Free (ACF) Cell Culture?: Animal component-free (ACF) cell culture means no ingredients derived from any animal source — including human — are present in the medium. All components must be synthetic or produced by recombinant expression in microbial or plant systems. ACF is the highest standard for raw material origin control and is increasingly required for clinical-grade ATMP manufacturing.
The terminology hierarchy: serum-free → xeno-free → ACF
These represent progressively stricter raw material origin standards. Serum-free: no whole serum but BSA and bovine transferrin still allowed. Xeno-free: no foreign-species components — human-derived hPL and rHSA are allowed for human cells. ACF: no animal components of any origin including human — only synthetic and recombinant microbial/plant-expressed components.
ACF components from SeamlessBio
OsrhHSA (rice-expressed recombinant human serum albumin) and OsrhTF (rice-expressed recombinant human transferrin) form the ACF-compatible albumin and iron delivery base for human cell culture in GMP and ATMP applications.
Key Facts
- ACF excludes: FBS, human serum, hPL, BSA, bovine transferrin, bovine insulin, trypsin, gelatin, and any human donor-derived extract
- ACF includes: synthetic amino acids, vitamins, inorganic salts, recombinant proteins from non-animal expression (OsrhHSA from rice, OsrhTF from rice, recombinant insulin from E. coli)
- Xeno-free ≠ ACF: xeno-free allows human-derived materials (hPL, human AB serum, rHSA from mammalian cells)
- Serum-free ≠ ACF: serum-free medium can contain BSA and bovine transferrin — both animal-derived
- ACF eliminates all animal-sourced adventitious agent risk and TSE/BSE documentation burden
- Practical limitation: not all cell types maintain equivalent performance in ACF conditions
Further Reading
- What is Xeno-Free Cell Culture?
- What is Serum-Free Medium?
- Xeno-Free vs Serum-Free vs ACF — Full Comparison
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