Scientists routinely press eukaryotic cells into service as organic factories, cranking out everything from antibodies to viruses. How much biomass these researchers need to conduct their research, however, varies. Individual researchers can generally get what they need to coat the wells of an ELISA plate, for instance, from a few large flasks' worth of cells. But larger-scale, production efforts require considerably more cells. Because cell culture is so labor-intensive, simply scaling up the number of growth chambers is not really a viable option for these investigators; instead they must look to entirely different cell growth options.
The term "large-scale bioreactor" brings to mind visions of enormous bomb-like stainless steel structures, affixed with valves and tubes and industrial-scale controls. Such tanks have been used for cell culture for nearly 50 years, notes chemical engineer Daniella Kranjac, director of sales and marketing for Wave Biotech of Bridgewater, NJ. But these days, biotechnologists ...
