S51: FeedBeads: one way to enhance the reproducibility of pre-cultures in shake flasks

Reproducibility of cultivations in stirred fermenters is critical for successful bioprocess development. Fundamental to achieving equivalent fermentations is to inoculate the bioreactors with reproducible pre-cultures, and a number of techniques are available to achieve consistent inoculum or seed cultures.

This presentation will describe a method to generate reproducible pre-cultures in shake flasks through use of the slow release glucose feeding system known as ‘FeedBeads’. FeedBeads are pre-sterilized silicon discs containing glucose which are added to liquid cultures in vessels such as flasks and tubes. The glucose is released from the silicone discs in a defined kinetic to the media – thus providing a steady feed rate of fermentable glucose to the organisms in culture. FeedBeads enable the researcher to complete fed-batch in a shake flask very easily – without the need for liquid feeds or handling of the flasks. In addition to fed-batch applications FeedBeads may be used to synchronize pre-cultures, resulting in reproducibility of inoculum for downstream fermentation processes.