Bioreactors: What are they and how can they improve experiments?

Have you ever had to clean out Erlenmeyer flasks or glass bottles after growing bacteria or suspension cells? Did you ever forget to autoclave bottles and then had to wait to start your experiment? Have you ever wanted to grow and spin suspension cells in the same vessel?  Would you like to vary gas exchange without opening up the culture to contamination?

Disposable bioreactors are the solution to many of these common issues in growing suspension and microbial cultures.  

What is a bioreactor? 

Bioreactors are growth vessels (of varying types) that provide similar cell physiology to in vivo allowing for optimal cell growth and high level productivity.

How do bioreactors accomplish this?

Bioreactors optimize cell growth and lead to high level productivity by maintaining the following characteristics:

•  Stable temperature
•  Maintenance of oxygen and gas level
•  Physiological pH
•  Low shear stress
•  Rapid response to induced changes

How to choose a bioreactor for your needs—(what are important qualities of a bioreactor?):

·        

• Ease of use
•  Rapid set up
•  Disposable
•  Efficient gas exchange and even dispersing of nutrients (Figure 1)
•  Low shear stress
•  Minimal impact of errors and contamination
•  Lower chance of contamination

            MIDSCI is the United States’ exclusive importer of TPP bioreactors (Figure 2). 

What sets TPP bioreactors apart?

•          TPP bioreactors have more efficient shaking (due to the internal cyclonic stirring) compared to the Erlenmeyer flask and bottle growth vessel (Figure3)

•          TPP bioreactors have no excess CO₂ as the efficient shaking allows for proper gas exchange and dispersal of nutrients (Figure 1)
•          TPP bioreactors have no excess foam or shear stress (Figure 4)

•          TPP bioreactors allow for customizable gas exchange with their 5 cap openings.  (Figure 5)

·        

• TPP bioreactors can be shaken and grown in a normal CO₂ incubator.
• 15 and 50 mL TPP bioreactors can easily be spun down in a centrifuge without transferring.  Rotors for the 600 mL TPP bioreactor are soon to come.  The less steps, the less of a chance there is of the introduction of contaminants. 
• Can easily scale up or scale down experiments.

MIDSCI has 15, 50, and 600 mL disposable bioreactors available in various packaging sizes.  The 15 mL is available in 200, 400, and 800 items/case.  The 50 mL is available in 60 and 180 items/case.  The 600 mL is available in 3, 13, and 26 items/case. 

Have any questions?  Interested in learning more about our bioreactors?  Contact MIDSCI today!