RPMI 1640 liquid and powder medium

RPMI 1640 medium was developed by Moore and his co-workers while at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in 1966. Originally designed for the growth of human leukaemia cells in monolayer or suspension cultures using a serum supplement, it has since demonstrated universal use in the growth and support of a broad spectrum of mammalian and hybrid cells as well as in hybridoma fusion protocols.

For peripheral blood lymphocytes a mixture of 80 % RPMI 1640 and 20 % FBS is often used, and for murine myeloma cells a mixture of 85 % RPMI and 15 % FBS.

Different from the original formulation, only 0.05 mg/l riboflavin are used due to risk of photo oxidative effects.