INFORS HT blog

Simple actions can make a lot of difference to the outcome of your shake flasks cultures. Some beneficial ones have been covered in a previous post 5 Ways to Increase Biomass in Your Shake Flasks. However, common practices can also be a barrier to effective optimization. 

Monoclonal antibodies have been used for testing kits and medical therapies across a wide range of applications. The most recent is to provide a potential treatment for patients suffering from Covid-19 infection. The production of monoclonal antibodies is well understood, scalable and standardized to the extent that it makes a good generic example of a modern bioprocess. This aspect will be the focus of this short overview. 

Buying a new incubator shaker may seem like a simple job. You could select the same model again, the cheapest version, or the shaker with the fastest delivery time. Nothing to worry about as it’s a simple standard product, so anything will do the job. However, this approach leaves out a vital factor – what quality of results can you expect at the other end of your bioprocess? 

The shake flask is one of the standard laboratory tools for culture of microorganisms and cells. The bioreactor, conversely, is seen as a specialized, solution for commercial applications and academic departments such as chemical engineering. While there is a generic case to be made for this view, the realities of modern research in the biosciences have expanded the need for more information and semi-production capability at small scales.

The Multitron incubator shaker remains uniquely popular since its launch in 1991. The original concept was to offer maximum shake flask capacity whilst occupying minimum space within the laboratory. A number of other new features were launched alongside the Multitron, and since have become firm favourites with users. Some of the best loved capabilities of the Multitron are listed below.

The fed-batch technique is an important biotechnological process strategy. Unlike the simpler Batch strategy, the substrate for microbial growth is not administered all at once but added over time. This allows control over the culture growth and product formation, whilst avoiding reactor limitations. Despite these advantages, a fed-batch will require optimization, which can present its own challenges.