Role of hydrodynamic shear in the cultivation of animal, plant and microbial cells

Abstract

The rapid developments in biotechnology have resulted in the identification and use of a large variety of biologically active substances produced from microbial, plant and animal origin. These range from enzymes and antibiotics to highly complex molecules such as immunoglobulins, growth factors and hormones. The advances in bioprocess technology have enabled the cultivation of different micro-organisms, namely bacteria, yeast and fungi, on a large scale. The potential use of plant and animal cells has, however, not yet been completely realized. One of the major limitations in the scale-up of plant and animal cell culture is the shear sensitivity of these cells. This arises owing to the large size of the cells. In addition, animal cells are especially fragile because of the lack of cell walls.