Question

Which of the following represents an advantage of growing cells in continuous culture as compared to a shake flask?

• A. Cells can be maintained at a constant physiological state
• B. Most downstream and upstream processes are continuous in nature
• C. Continuous reactors do not need to be shut down and cleaned regularly
• D. All of above

Answer 1

The correct option is D All of above

Shake flasks have been used for decades to cultivate bacteria and fungi, as well as plant and animal cells in suspension. In shake-flask cultures, the cells are exposed to low oxygen concentrations since the microorganisms/ cells are suspended in the culture broth. Shake flasks are usually subject to media evaporative loss in warmer culture environments. Also the speed and cost of production of recombinant gene products would be high.

Continuous culture is a set of techniques used for cultivating microorganisms under a constant and controllable environment for an extended period of time. Continuous culture is an 'open' culture system for the cultivation of microorganisms or cells in which a fresh sterilized medium is introduced at a steady flow rate and from which the culture fluid emerges at the same rate. In this sytem the cells are maintianed at the exponential growth phase constantly and products are obtained in a steady manner. The upstream and downstream process are continuous as the reactor do not need to be shut down and cleaned regularly.

Continuous culture is provided with a support system that always checks for any fluctuation in the physicochemical state of the culture like pH, temperature, oxygen concentration etc.