Minimum Essential Medium is a modification of Basal Medium Eagle (BME).

• Developed by Harry Eagle to meet the specific nutritional requirements
• Includes higher concentration of amino acids
• Can be used either with Earle’s salts and Hank’s salts
• Can also be additionally supplemented with non-essential amino acids
• Can be further modified by eliminating calcium

Minimum Essential Medium is a modification of Basal Medium Eagle (BME). It was developed by Harry Eagle to meet the specific nutritional requirements of certain subtypes of Hela cells and normal mammalian fibroblasts. MEM includes higher concentration of amino acids so as to closely approximate the protein composition of cultured mammalian cells. MEM can be used either with Earle’s salts and Hank’s salts and can also be additionally supplemented with non-essential amino acids (NEAA). The modification can be further modified by eliminating calcium to facilitate growth of cells in suspension cultures.