Bioreactor

A vessel or system that maintains controlled conditions for biological processes involving cells, microorganisms, or enzymes. It enables growth, transformation, or product formation at scales from laboratory experiments to industrial production.

Stirred-tank reactor: A vessel in which an impeller mixes a liquid culture and disperses gases. Its impeller-driven mixing makes it a widely used design for liquid cultures.
Cell culture: The growth of cells under controlled conditions outside their natural environment. Many bioreactors maintain cells as the active production system.
Recombinant protein: A protein produced by cells whose genetic material has been engineered to express its coding sequence. Bioreactors grow engineered cells that manufacture many therapeutic proteins.
Batch culture: A culture process in which a fixed amount of medium is supplied at the start and harvested at the end. It contrasts with continuous operation, where fresh medium enters during cultivation.
Airlift bioreactor: A reactor that circulates liquid through gas injection rather than a mechanical impeller. It shows how gas flow can provide both mixing and oxygen delivery.
Microbial fermentation: The cultivation of microorganisms to obtain biomass or products through their metabolism. It is a common biological process carried out in industrial bioreactors.
Monoclonal antibody: An antibody population produced from one cell lineage and directed against a specific target. Large-scale cell culture in bioreactors supplies many therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
Fed-batch culture: A culture process in which nutrients are added during cultivation without continuous culture removal. It offers a middle ground between fixed-batch feeding and continuous operation.
Mass transfer: The movement of substances between locations or phases, driven by concentration or chemical-potential differences. Oxygen transfer from bubbles into culture liquid can limit cell growth.
Enzyme: A biological catalyst that accelerates a chemical reaction without being consumed overall. Some reactors use enzymes directly rather than growing whole cells.

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