The upstream part of a bioprocess refers to the initial stage in which microbes/cells are grown, e.g. bacterial or mammalian cell lines in bioreactors. Upstream processing involves all the steps related with inoculum development: Media Preparation, Cell Culture and Cell Separation & Harvest. When the cells have reached the desired density, they are harvested and moved to the downstream section of the bioprocess.
Using specific recipes required for each bioreactor stage of scale up from inoculum to harvest. Media preparation is usually carried out in tanks, carboys, bottles or bags to which the media is introduced. Similar to humans, cells also require a proper nutrition to function and ultimately produce the protein product.
Therefore, media is predominantly made up of various components: carbohydrate (glucose), nitrogen (amino acids), fats (lipids) and trace amounts of salt. Media components are most often in powder form which is introduced to a high purity grade of water for injection (WFI). Prior to introducing...
Cell culture is the growth of cells outside the body (in vitro). All living things grow by cellular division and same applies to cell culture, the cells divide and continue to multiply once in a suitable environment.
The correct environment consists of a growth medium as a food source and cell culture vessels for controlling gases and temperature. During the growth stage, the medium will turn an opaque colour as the cells density increases. The growth rate is monitored accurately to determine how well cell...
Cell Separation is the first step at recovering the protein product (cells) from the culture. The timing for termination of the Cell Culture is crucial and predetermined based on the quality and quantity of the product accumulated in the bioreactors.
The first step in mammalian separation is usually centrifugation: a technique used for the separation of cells from culture through rapid spinning and sedimentation. The technique of centrifugation is based on the principle of density difference between particles to be separated and the medium...
Here are some examples of single-use assemblies produced by UltraPure International in Uithoorn.
