Grace's medium is a modification of the original formula developed by Wyatt. Grace (1962) improved the medium by introducing ten water soluble vitamins in Wyatt's formula. Grace successfully established four strains of cells from ovarian tissue of Australian emperor gum moth using this medium. These were the first continuous cell lines developed from insect tissue. IM001 is Grace's Insect Medium with L-glutamine. It can be used to culture cells derived from a variety of insects especially Lepidopterans and some species of Dipterans.
Originally the basal medium was supplemented with plasma from insects, the tissues of which were cultured or plasma from silkworm, Bombyx mori. Presently, the medium is supplemented with 5 - 20% fetal bovine serum. Users are advised to review the literature for recommendations regarding medium supplementation and physiological growth requirements specific for different cell lines.