At Lund University, Division of Food and Pharma, researchers studied the role of annealing in the freeze-drying of probiotic bacteria. Using the INFORS HT Multifors bioreactor and eve software, they controlled the fermentation of Limosilactobacillus reuteri to produce consistent cell cultures for downstream drying. Their results show that increased annealing time leads to thicker encapsulating structures and enhanced storage stability, providing a clearer path to developing more robust probiotic products.

At the University of Boras in Sweden, researchers have scaled up second-generation bioethanol production from beech wood chips using an acetone-based organosolv fractionation process. With the help of the INFORS HT Multifors bench-top bioreactor, they confirmed high fermentation efficiency at the 10-L scale, reaching ethanol yields of up to 95% from glucose-rich C6 streams. This study illustrates how optimized biomass pre-treatment and fermentation workflows can drive more efficient and scalable biofuel production.

A bioreactor provides an ideal environment where cells can focus on what they are supposed to do: proliferate. Like lab workers, cells can only produce consistently good work if the conditions are right: it should not be too hot or too cold, and they have to have enough nutritious food and fresh air. In terms of a bioreactor, this means maintaining pH, temperature, ensuring sufficient gas supply and, depending on how the instrument has been configured, adding nutrients for successful maintenance of growth.

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.