Minimum Essential Medium Eagle - Alpha Modification (Alpha MEM) with Nucleosides is recommended for a wide variety of cell culture applications. Selection of a suitable nutrient medium is dependent on type of cell, conditions of culture, and degree of chemical definition. MEM has typically been used for the cultivation of cells grown in monolayers, however additional supplementation to Alpha MEM has expanded the applications for this medium. MEM was developed by Harry Eagle when Basal Medium Eagle (BME) was found not adequate to support the growth of HeLa cells. It was discovered that BME could support the growth of a wider variety of cells with the addition of certain medium supplements (e.g. higher concentrations of amino acids), which were incorporated into the MEM formulation. Alpha MEM includes the non-essential amino acids, sodium pyruvate, lipoic acid, ascorbic acid, biotin, and vitamin B12.