Automated, miniaturized bioreactor platform

• Subject Area: Process Engineering, Technical Chemistry
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 583792447

The automated, miniaturized bioreactor platform is of central importance for current research at the Institute of Bioprocess Engineering and for its strategic development. The device will be used in three of the institute's four main areas of research: (1) nanobiotechnology, (2) biocatalysis and fermentation (both Castiglione research group), and (3) systems biotechnology (Wahl research group). In the field of nanobiotechnology, nanoscale polymer vesicles, known as polymersomes, are produced in miniaturized stirred tank reactors and functionalized with (membrane) proteins in order to, for example, construct and characterize compartmentalized reaction systems for biocatalytic applications. Due to the high cost of customized polymers and the fact that, according to the current state of the art, the production of membrane proteins in large quantities is still mostly challenging, these processes are preferably carried out on a low milliliter scale. Only stirred systems can be used here, as the polymersome formation process is scaled using the dimensionless Froude number. In the field of biocatalysis and fermentation, the device will be used to conduct parallel development of enzymatic and microbial production processes. In addition to determining and controlling temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and pH, the automated determination of optical density and, depending on the process, other photometric process data is also important. In the field of systems biotechnology research, the system will be used for the quantitative analysis of microbial systems. The parallelized, miniaturized platform enables, on the one hand, the metabolic investigation of different substrate conditions. On the other hand, experiments with C13-labeled substrates, which are very expensive, can be carried out in a controlled manner in small volumes. The parallel use of different labeling patterns can significantly increase the resolution of intracellular metabolic pathways. Due to the wide variety of applications, flexible, adaptable software for automating the processes is an important component of the overall system.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Automatisierte, miniaturisierte Bioreaktorplattform
• Instrumentation Group: 3520 Bakterien-Zuchtgeräte, Fermenter
• Applicant Institution: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Kathrin Castiglione