Concerns for the use of Basement Membrane Extract (BME)
Cutting-edge in vitro models like organoids and pluripotent stem cells are shaping the future of biomedical research. Yet many of these advancements still rely on animal-derived materials like Basement Membrane Extract (BME). Despite being a go-to choice for 2D and 3D cell cultures for over 40 years, the use of BME comes with major ethical, sustainability, practical, and scientific drawbacks that limits its reliability and translational potential.
On this page, we have summarized the key issues associated with BME and why transitioning to animal-free alternatives is crucial for more reliable, reproducible, and ethical research. If you're looking for BME-free alternatives, please check our BME-free Database to explore available options.
Production of Basement Membrane Extract (BME) is unethical and unsustainable
Did you know that every 10 mL bottle of BME requires the sacrifice of two mice? These mice are purpose-bred and injected with Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) tumours, causing them to experience suffering. This process is not only inhumane, but also unsustainable, requiring a lot of resources for breeding, housing, and maintaining facilities for these animals.
How many of these bottles did you come across in your research?
Xenogeneic origin limits clinical translation
When using Basement Membrane Extract (BME) we are exposing cultured cells to a murine-derived microenvironment. Unless you are working with murine cells, this may compromise the experimental results due to biological incompatibility and variability and also hinders regulatory approval from the EMA or FDA for human applications.
What is holding you back from developing models with animal-free materials for better clinical translation?
Tumour extracts do not represent healthy tissues
Since Basement Membrane Extract (BME) is a tumour extract, it is substantially different than the extracellular matrix of healthy tissues. BME fundamentally alters the environment in which we aim to grow stem cells and organoids to recapitulate healthy tissues. For example, Talbot et al. have identified inflammation- and tissue remodelling-related proteins in BME. Consequently, using BME can lead to misleading results that reflect cancer biology, rather than normal tissue behaviour.
What’s the true cost of studying human physiology in tumour extracts – misleading results or missed breakthroughs?
Batch-to-batch variability hinders reproducibility
One of the biggest challenges with Basement Membrane Extract (BME) is its high batch-to-batch variability, with only 53% similarity between batches. This inconsistency undermines the reproducibility of experiments, posing a particular threat to high-throughput screening and personalized medicine, where pluripotent stem cells and organoids are widely used models.
If each different batch exposes your cells to a different ‘cocktail’ of factors, how valid are the experimental findings?
Basement Membrane Extracts (BME) lack organ-specific precision
BME lacks the tissue-specific cues essential for accurately replicating the human extracellular matrix (ECM). In the body, every tissue has unique mechanical and biochemical signals provided by its ECM, that guide specific cell behaviours and functions. However, due to the ill-defined nature of BME, these tissue-specific properties cannot be precisely controlled or reproduced. As we cannot tune these properties, BME may not provide the tissue-specific microenvironment required for specific applications.
Is it time to swap the ‘one-size-fits-all’ for a tissue-specific fit?
When you use Basement Membrane Extract (BME), your model will never be completely animal-free
It’s about time to remove the undefined variable from your research. Let’s make research more translatable to humans by culturing e.g. organoids and pluripotent stem cells in defined, animal-free matrices that better represent our native environment. This shift will enhance the translatability and reproducibility of your research, opening the doors for more accurate drug screening and personalized medicine.