BIOTECHNICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION METHOD AND EQUIPMENT

(WO/2008/081082) BIOTECHNICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION METHOD AND EQUIPMENT: Background for the invention

Helge: I found this information on Internet. Would you Elias like to comment? What are the practical implications?

Pub. No.: WO/2008/081082 International Application No.: PCT/FI2008/000001 Publication Date: 10.07.2008 International Filing Date: 04.01.2008
IPC:	C12M 1/04 (2006.01), C12M 1/12 (2006.01), C12P 1/04 (2006.01), C12P 39/00 (2006.01), C12Q 1/02 (2006.01)
Applicant:	HAKALEHTO, Eino, Elias [FI/FI]; Kasarmikatu 12 C 1, FIN-70110 Kuopio (FI).
Inventor:	HAKALEHTO, Eino, Elias; Kasarmikatu 12 C 1, FIN-70110 Kuopio (FI).
Priority Data:	20070008 04.01.2007 FI

Title:	BIOTECHNICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION METHOD AND EQUIPMENT
Abstract:	A method and an apparatus enabling the simultaneous cultivation and product formation in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions of microbes or other production organisms in the same bioreactor. The used microbes may be facultatively anaerobic bacteria, for example.

In utilizing and studying microbes in industry or medicine or in environmental cleaning, the used microbiological and bacteriological methods in most cases call for the culturing of cells or equivalent in a nutrient substrate before being able to show them, clarifying the effects of their action or getting to a desired production result. This production result may be a cell growth, e.g. for feed or protein, or the formation of one or several desired metabolic products.

LIQUID OR GAS FORM

These products can be in liquid or gas form or they can be separated from a production liquid into solid form by precipitation. The production result of a microbiological reaction can also be the cleaning of environment, like soil or water, or the elimination of a harmful substance from an organism.

NUTRIENT SUBSTRATES

Nutrient substrates contain vital nutrients for microbes and they are designed to be as suitable as possible for the microbes and other organisms to be studied. Plant and animal cells have been started to generally be cultivated with similar methods as microbes.

Conventionally, nutrient substrates are divided into general nutrient substrates and selective nutrient substrates. In the former many different microbes can widely be cultivated whereas selective nutrient substrates choose or enrich selective species or strains. Studied microbes may be for example single cell bacteria or yeasts, or filamentous molds, or algae or protozoa.

MICROBE CULTIVATION

Microbe cultivations and studies may be related to projects for example in medicine, health care, pharmaceutical industry, food, chemistry or cosmetics industries or forestry industry. They may also be part of the control of building mold damage or the follow-up of environmental condition to find out the quality of water, air or other environmental quality.

FINNOFLAG AND ELIAS HAKALEHTO

Normally these cultivations take place in thermostatically controlled cabinets (thermal cabinets or incubators) or rooms, which thermostated cabinets are located in laboratories or equivalent. Often there is need to collect microbe samples or equivalent in the field or as part of field experiments or on site for example in production processes, different locations in hospitals or canteens. Large quantities of microbe cells are generally tried to be cultivated in different kinds of bioreactors, fermentors. Microbiological production reactions often also take place in these. In studies performed by Finnofiag Oy (Kuopio and Siilinjarvi, Finland), it has been shown that microbes can efficiently be cultivated in controlled environments in a cultivation case in a way that air or gas is led into the sampling and cultivation syringes in the case (Finnish patent no FI 106561).

FERMENTATION

In the biotechnical industry fermentation has conventionally been used for cultivating microbes or carrying out a production method by them. Although "fermentation" has originally meant anaerobic fermentation, this concept nowadays includes all microbe action that is carried out in bioreactors. This action may happen just as well in the presence of oxygen, aerobically, or without oxygen, anaerobically. In this application the term "reactor" means bioreactor.