Microfabricated bioreactor devices for bioprocess development
Event details
| Date | 31.01.2014 |
| Hour | 13:00 |
| Speaker |
Dr. Nicolas Szita, University College London Bio: Nicolas Szita has significant expertise in microbioreactors and microfluidics, which encompasses performing cell cultivation in a microfluidic format, biochemical micro reactor design and microfluidic device fabrication, and the system-wide integration of microfluidic and analytical devices. For his doctoral degree at ETH Zurich, he created a microfluidic pipetting device from silicon and glass, with integrated capacitive sensors for the liquid handling of microlitre volumes with nanolitre precision. At MIT, he established multiplexed microfluidic bioreactors, and demonstrated highly reproducible parallel batch fermentations. This led to the first demonstration that multiplexed microbioreactors can be designed to provide in situ and real-time kinetic process data that are comparable with bench-scale reactor data. The microbioreactors were linked to gene expression analysis, analysed for glucose consumption, organic acid production, and for oxygenation capacity. During his time at the Technical University of Denmark, he initiated doctoral projects on continuous culture microbioreactors for single use. At UCL, his research focus is to alter fundamentally the ways in which industry can conduct bioprocess development by creating and then deploying novel microfluidic reaction and separation platforms. He is applying this focus across the three industrial bioprocess-using sectors pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and regenerative medicine and cell therapy. |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Over the last ten years, bioreactor miniaturisation has made significant progress in traditional biotechnology and has changed the way early stage process development can be approached. Key advantages that make microfabricated bioreactors a cost-effective proposition for early bioprocess development include: significant reduction in reagent use, real-time monitoring and control of process variables, ease of sterilisation via disposable polymer technology, reduced labour due to automation, and the capability to rapidly test different processing conditions. In my presentation, I will highlight these advances and demonstrate how microfabricated bioreactors will make an impact in emerging areas for bioprocessing.
For cell therapy, the development of tightly controlled culture processes will be crucial for the clinical and commercial use of pluripotent cells, and novel tools are direly needed. To address this, we have developed a unique microfabricated cell culture device (‘micro bioreactor’) which uses microfluidic approaches to control the microenvironment of the cells, and which maintains a link with traditional small-scale culture devices for validation and scale-up studies. Analytical methods are integrated with the device to monitor cell culture growth online, generating robust quantitative data suitable for process documentation or evaluation of experimental outcomes. We have tested the device using human and mouse embryonic stem cell expansion protocols as a model system.
In synthetic biology, the key challenge will be to achieve manufacturability of the many engineered cells that this emerging field endeavours to produce. In my group, a microfabricated bioreactor was developed which allows controlled exposure of de novo synthesised expression elements to defined growth conditions. This so-called micro-chemostat contains a novel electro-magnetic stirrer, real-time monitoring of growth conditions and fluorescent gene product expression, and a demonstrator multiplexed system has been established. In ongoing work, the capability of this micro-chemostat for rapid acquisition of design-relevant gene expression parameters in statistical depth is explored for the gram-positive S. carnosus as a chassis for lantibiotic producing genes within the framework of a European project.
For cell therapy, the development of tightly controlled culture processes will be crucial for the clinical and commercial use of pluripotent cells, and novel tools are direly needed. To address this, we have developed a unique microfabricated cell culture device (‘micro bioreactor’) which uses microfluidic approaches to control the microenvironment of the cells, and which maintains a link with traditional small-scale culture devices for validation and scale-up studies. Analytical methods are integrated with the device to monitor cell culture growth online, generating robust quantitative data suitable for process documentation or evaluation of experimental outcomes. We have tested the device using human and mouse embryonic stem cell expansion protocols as a model system.
In synthetic biology, the key challenge will be to achieve manufacturability of the many engineered cells that this emerging field endeavours to produce. In my group, a microfabricated bioreactor was developed which allows controlled exposure of de novo synthesised expression elements to defined growth conditions. This so-called micro-chemostat contains a novel electro-magnetic stirrer, real-time monitoring of growth conditions and fluorescent gene product expression, and a demonstrator multiplexed system has been established. In ongoing work, the capability of this micro-chemostat for rapid acquisition of design-relevant gene expression parameters in statistical depth is explored for the gram-positive S. carnosus as a chassis for lantibiotic producing genes within the framework of a European project.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Nico de Rooij
Contact
- Isa Schafer