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MEM alpha was first described by Stanners (1971) in culturing mouse-hamster hybrid cells. MEM-alpha is the most enriched variation of the MEM formulation offered. It contains all 21 normal amino acids, some at increased concentrations. In addition to Eagle’s MEM, Stanners’ formulation includes non-essential amino acids, ascorbic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, lipoic acid, sodium pyruvate, ribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleosides. MEM alpha has since been used in many applications, such as in maturing human embryos into blastocysts, culturing functional organ tissue in microgravity, and culturing primary cells and cell lines. This medium is widely used for mammalian cell culture as well as selection for transfected DHFR-negative cells. MEM alpha can be used with a variety of suspension and adherent mammalian cells, including keratinocytes, primary rat astrocytes, and human melanoma cells. Commercial formulations of ready-made MEM alpha may come with or without nucleosides.