“Mixing, aeration and cell damage, 30+ years later: what we learned, how it affected the cell culture industry and what we would like to know more about”

Abstract
Greater than $100 billion in sales of human biopharmaceuticals are produced in large scale, animal cell culture in stirred tank bioreactors. Despite initial and continuing concerns of the ‘‘shear sensitivity’’ of animal cells, over the last 30 years, incredible advances have been made in the productivity of suspended animal cells to produce biopharmaceuticals, from mg/L of product to over 5 g/L. In this contribution, a summary of the current state of this ‘‘shear sensitivity’’ concerns will be discussed, demonstrating that it is not in general a problem with current bioprocesses. Examples of what is considered the current limits above which effects of hydrodynamic and interfacial phenomena become a concern and begin to negatively impact the cells and the bioprocess will be presented.

About Professor Jeffrey Chalmers
Jeffrey Chalmers, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Ohio State University and, since 2001, Director of the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Analytical Cytometry’s Shared Resource and his team of researchers are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the cell culture field. These include contributing to the elucidation of the mechanisms of cell damage in large-scale cell culture processes. Professor Chalmers has mentored more than 40 graduate students, many of whom work directly in the cell culture field. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and patents and has given more than 150 invited seminars. He is on the editorial board of Biotechnology and Bioengineering since 2003.

You are also welcome to Caijuan Zhan PhD thesis defence, for which Prof. Chalmers will be Opponent, at 13:00, AlbaNova FA32.