The objective of this project is utilize SBI’s newest technology to create and optimize a cell culture procedure that is scalable from a shake flask to a bioreactor.
Sponsored by: Scientific Bioprocessing, Inc.
Team Members
Mikhaila Boyda Kashish Goel Jenna Kim Lauren Spadt
Instructor: Amar Yeware
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
Bioreactors are ideal vessels for industrial-scale cell culture, but they are expensive due to their large volumes and automated monitoring systems. Scientific Bioprocessing, Inc. (SBI) created technology that extends the capability of shake flasks to include real-time monitoring and fed batch cultivation, once only possible in bioreactors. SBI’s goal is to reduce the cost and waste associated with non-optimized growth in bioreactors by enabling small-scale optimization in shake flasks. This team was tasked with creating and optimizing a reliable cell culture procedure with SBI’s newest shake flask technology, eventually testing procedure scalability in a larger scale bioreactor.
Objectives
– To validate SBI’s cell growth quantifier (CGQ), liquid injection system (LIS), and DOTS software with respect to growth rate optimization.
– To create and optimize a reliable cell culture procedure by manipulating various cell culture parameters in shake flasks.
– To determine the scalability of procedural optimizations from shake flasks to bioreactors.
Approach
– Visited SBI and determined customer needs while receiving technology training
– Cultured E. coli in a 5L bioreactor with no feeding
– Validated CGQ’s automated biomass measurement in comparison to manual OD600 readings
– Cultured E. coli in triplicate shake flasks with biomass-based feeding
– Determined optimal feed trigger, feed concentration, and agitation rate conditions through growth rate analysis of additional triplicate shake flask experiments
– Cultured E. coli in triplicate shake flasks with biomass-based feeding and all three optimized conditions
– Cultured E. coli in a 5L bioreactor with biomass-based feeding and all optimized conditions
– Compared growth rates from shake flasks and bioreactor to determine optimization scalability
Outcomes
– The procedure was optimized in shake flasks: combining all optimized conditions (250 a.u. feed trigger, 20% glucose feed, and 180 RPM agitation rate) showed a significant increase in growth rate compared with the initial biomass-based feeding conditions.
– E. coli growth rate was increased by applying the optimized conditions from the shake flasks to the bioreactor, indicating scalability from shake flask to bioreactor.
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