Biochemical engineering

Biochemical engineering applies engineering principles to biological systems and biochemical processes, designing and scaling processes that produce chemicals, materials, and medicines.

Bioreactor: A vessel or system that supports controlled biological or biochemical reactions. It provides the controlled environment where engineered production reactions occur.
Biopharmaceutical: A medicine produced using biological sources or biological processes. Biochemical engineering enables reliable, large-scale manufacture of many complex medicines.
Biochemical reaction: A chemical transformation catalyzed by enzymes or occurring within a biological system. Its kinetics and yields define the production step an engineer must optimize.
Chemical engineering: The engineering discipline concerned with designing and operating processes that transform matter and energy. It shares process-design methods but does not necessarily center biological systems.
Bioprocess: A sequence of operations that uses cells, enzymes, or biological materials to make products. It organizes biochemical production from feed preparation through product recovery.
Recombinant protein: A protein produced by cells after genetic material encoding it is introduced or altered. Engineered cell cultures can produce therapeutic proteins at industrial scale.
Enzyme kinetics: The study of the rates of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and their dependence on conditions. Rate laws help predict how operating conditions affect biological conversion.
Biotechnology: The use of organisms, cells, or biological molecules to develop products and processes. Biochemical engineering is an engineering-focused part of this broader field.
Bioreactor design: The design of reactor geometry, mixing, aeration, and control for biological processes. Its choices determine whether cells receive suitable conditions at production scale.
Biofuel: Fuel made from biomass or produced through biological processes. Biochemical processes convert renewable feedstocks into fuels such as ethanol.

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History of chemical engineeringBroader topic: Biotechnology extended the discipline from chemical reactions to living production systems.