What does the acronym BSA stand for and what is it used for?

Modified on Thu, 22 Aug, 2019 at 8:56 AM

BSA is bovine serum albumin. 


BSA is considered as an inert protein in that it rarely interferes with a biochemical reaction. In biochemistry and molecular biology, the inert characteristic of BSA allows it to be used to stabilise enzymes by preventing loss of the enzyme through adhesion to plastics such as pipette tips and other plastic consumables that come into contact with the enzyme. BSA is generally used in solution with the enzyme of interest at a final concentration of 0.5 - 1 milligram/millilitre.


There are many commercially available BSA products and most powder forms are sufficient for the use mentioned above. 



Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select at least one of the reasons
CAPTCHA verification is required.

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article