These large organs are shear sensitive. Bioreactor design has previously been limited to systems where vessels are constantly connected to pumps or air lines, as a means to gently aerate tissue. It has not been cost-effective to have a small vessel attached to a pump system, manifolds of multiple vessels are a threat to asepsis, and large vessels connected to a pump are a large risk for losses due to contamination. Furthermore, the level of laboratory labor in plant micropropagation laboratories does not support complex laboratory bioreactor designs.
Ports are available for aeration, nutrient sampling and supplementation.
For the lab operator the vessel is as simple as a conventional polycarbonate culture box. Our device allows dynamic environments to replace static vessel culture in mass scale without costly equipment or specialized technical staff. A variety of crops, monocot and dicot, woody and herbaceous, have been successfully propagated in these liquid systems. Biomass production for secondary metabolites production would be supported with an economy of scale. Reliable operation is inherent in the simplicity of design.