ENHANCED CELL CULTURE GROWTH RATES

COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY WILL BE LIMITED TO HIGH VALUE PRODUCTS AS LONG AS PRODUCTION COSTS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE CAPACITY OF EXISTING CULTURE SYSTEMS. ULTRASONICALLY ENHANCED DIFFUSION CAN ACCELERATE PLANT AND CELL GROWTH AND THESE PHENOMENA OPERATE AT THE NEAR MOLECULAR LEVEL, AN EXTENT OF EFFECT WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GROSS MECHANICAL AGITATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK WILL BE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF A NOVEL FLEXURAL PLATE WAVEGUIDE DESIGN TO PROVIDE A UNIFORM, UNIDIRECTIONAL VIBRATIONAL BEAM DIRECTED AT THE CELL BIOMASS. OUR ANALYSES ARE DESIGNED TO TEST THE THESIS THAT CAREFULLY CONTROLLED ULTRASONIC ACTIVATION OF LIQUID NUTRIENT MEDIA CAN ENHANCE THE GROWTH RATE AND YIELD OF HIGHQUALITY CELLULAR CULTIVARS.