Disposable bioreactors advantages

Another recent trend in fermentation is the use of disposable bioreactors instead of stainless steel reactors for process development, especially in pharmaceutical manufacturing (Hanson et al., 2(X)9). Disposable bioreactors are typically plastic devices, such as microtiter plates, T-flasks, shake flasks and wave reactors, with different sizes. Disposable bioreactors can be used as a seed fermentor or as a production fermentor for products on a small scale (Mikola et al, 2007). The main advantages of disposable reactors include more flexibility in operation and use for different products, elimination of CTOss-contamination, less time needed to set up because the reactor is ready to use, low cost and less labor needed. However, disposable reactor sizes do not exceed 2,000L because of physical limitations, stabihty issues and heat and mass transfer limitations, as these reactors do not have impellers for mixing. In addition, disposable plastic reactors may leach chemical components into the media that could negatively impact the quahty of the final product (Hanson et al, 2009). 

One of the greatest potential advantages of biosensors for these applications is the versatility, not only in the biorecognition elements, but also in the operational formats. For example, biosensor methods for the immunochemical detection of herbicides have been reported using reversible (3), regenerable (4), and disposable (5) biosensor formats. An important feature which must be considered is whether the mechanism of signal transduction allows the in situ or ex situ contact of the medium. This is particularly important for use with bioreactors which require strict adherence to sterilization protocols. Another consideration is the requirement for additional substrates, cofactors, or labeled analyte probes. This can present technical problems for potential in situ applications, especially where continuous operation is required or a sterile environment must be maintained. 

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