The typical bioreactor is a vessel where a batch process is used to grow micro-organisms (ex. yeast, bacteria, mammalian cells, etc). The vessel is seeded with a live cell culture and fed with a nutrient (ex. glucose, glycerol/methanol) plus trace minerals. The type of cells employed might be simple prokaryotes (bacteria) or the more complex eukaryotes (yeast, plant, mammalian, etc.). The latter can be extremely ‘finicky’ in their needs for a stable growth environment, but, they can perform biochemical feats that simpler cells cannot (e.g. ‘post-processes’ such as glycolation – attachment of sugar-chains to proteins). The final product might be proteins such as insulin, monoclonal-antibodies, growth-hormone, antibiotics or vaccines. Read more
