The effects of heat treatment and concentration of fish serum (FS) on cell growth in a suspension culture of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) 1-15(500) (ATCC CRL-9606) cells were investigated. An increase in FS concentration from 1% to 4% markedly increased cell density. On the other hand, heat treatment of FS showed nearly no effect on cell density. (C) 2009, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.