Bioreactor systems and controlled operation of bioreactor systems are disclosed herein. The bioreactor systems can include at least one bioreactor chamber, at least one reservoir, a plurality of sensors, and a fluid circuit. The operational methods disclosed herein are directed towards growing cells or tissue while measuring various parameters, and a controlled operation of the various parameters during the operation of the bioreactor systems. The controlled operation of the parameters includes, for example, cell concentration; a rate of flow; a volume; a pH; a temperature; a level of oxygen; a level of carbon dioxide; a level of bicarbonate ion; nutrient compound; and any combination thereof.

A culture apparatus includes a fine water generating cartridge disposed in an air passage by which moisture is supplied into a culture space and that goes into a moisture absorption state in which moisture in air is adsorbed on conductive polymer films by reducing the temperature of a base material having the conductive polymer films, and goes into a moisture release state in which fine water with a particle size of 50 nanometers or less is released from the moisture adsorbed on the conductive polymer films by increasing the temperature of the base material; and a control part performing moisture absorption control bringing the fine water generating cartridge into the moisture absorption state, and moisture release control releasing the fine water by bringing the fine water generating cartridge into the moisture release state supplied into the culture space, by irradiating the subject with the fine water.

Methods and systems for measuring viability and function of islet cells or stem cell-derived beta cells in an implantable device featuring setting the temperature of the cells in the implantable device to a low temperature to reduce metabolic levels of the cells and reduce oxygen requirements of the cells, and measuring oxygen consumption rates. An oxygen sensor at the inlet of the implantable device and an oxygen sensor at the outlet of the implantable device are used to calculate oxygen consumption rates of the cells, which in turn are indicative of viability. The reduction in temperature can also be used for loading cells into the implantable devices to help reduce ischemic and/or physical injury. The present invention may be used with other cell types, e.g. hepatocytes, heart cells, muscle cells, etc.

The present invention relates to a fermentation process for the fermentation of at least one microorganism, wherein the fermentation process comprises the steps of (a) allowing a fermentation broth comprising the at least one microorganism to flow in the fermentation reactor; (b) supplying a carbon-substrate to the fermentation reactor allowing the gaseous carbon-substrate to be dissolved, or partly dissolved, in the fermentation broth; (c) supplying a nitrogen-substrate to the fermentation reactor allowing the gaseous nitrogen-substrate to be dissolved, or partly dissolved, in the fermentation broth; and (d) maintaining a nitrate concentration of the fermentation broth below 0.035 g/l, and/or maintaining a nitrate concentration of the fermentation broth below 0.01 g nitrate/g biomass; wherein the at least one methanotrophic organism comprises at least one methanotrophic microorganism.

In one embodiment, an algae cultivation system includes a basin that contains a liquid and a photobioreactor at least partially immersed in the liquid of the basin, the photobioreactor comprising a closed container including multiple panels that together define an interior space in which algae can be cultivated, at least one of the panels being transparent, the photobioreactor further comprising an inflatable float associated with the container that can be filled with a gas to change one or both of the position and orientation of the container within the liquid.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cell culture method having an excellent cell proliferation property, an antibody production method using the above method, an organic acid removal method using the above method, and an antibody produced by the above method. The cell culture method of the present invention is a cell culture method including a metabolic decomposition product removal step of bringing a culture solution containing a metabolic decomposition product into contact with a polymer having a quaternary ammonium base group or an amino group and removing the metabolic decomposition product from the culture solution to a purified culture solution and a cell culture step of culturing cells using the purified culture solution.

The invention relates to a system and method for controlling an enzymatic pre-treatment process, e.g. a mashing process. The system and method provide for accurate determination of specific sugar molecules as well as the average length of the sugar chains in real-time during e.g. a mashing process. Further information on, e.g., the concentration of dissolved protein and free amino acids can also be obtained simultaneously.

Producing a resin from an organic waste product includes assessing a weight percent of a first volatile fatty acid and a weight percent of a second volatile fatty acid in a liquid mixture having volatile fatty acids from the organic waste product. The weight percent of the volatile fatty acids is based on the total weight of the carboxylic acids in the liquid mixture, the total weight of volatile fatty acids in the liquid mixture, or the total weight of lactic acid and volatile fatty acids in the mixture. A ratio of the weight percent of the first volatile fatty acid to the weight percent of the second volatile fatty acid in the liquid mixture is adjusted to yield a modified liquid mixture. The modified liquid is combined with polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing bacteria to yield a polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer; and the polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer is extracted from the polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing bacteria.

The invention relates to a method for characterizing the activity of a culture comprising microalgae, the method comprising the steps of: supplying a sample of the culture from a bioreactor to a chamber fluidically connected to the bioreactor; illuminating the sample in the chamber; measuring the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the sample in order to determine a rate of oxygen production by the illuminated sample. The invention also relates to a device and an apparatus for characterizing a culture comprising microalgae.

A device for monitoring a cell culture includes one or more electrochemical sensors configured to be positioned adjacent to or embedded within a medium of a cell culture. The one or more electrochemical sensors are configured to generate signals in accordance with the cell culture. A data storage device is configured to receive and store the signals from the one or more electrochemical sensors. A computation device is configured to analyze the signals from the one or more electrochemical sensors to determine cell activity over time using sensitivity information.