title: Review of microfluidic microbioreactor technology for high-throughput submerged microbiological cultivation.
abstract: Microbial fermentation process development is pursuing a high production yield. This requires a high throughput screening and optimization of the microbial strains, which is nowadays commonly achieved by applying slow and labor-intensive submerged cultivation in shake flasks or microtiter plates. These methods are also limited towards end-point measurements, low analytical data output, and control over the fermentation process. These drawbacks could be overcome by means of scaled-down microfluidic microbioreactors (μBR) that allow for online control over cultivation data and automation, hence reducing cost and time. This review goes beyond previous work not only by providing a detailed update on the current μBR fabrication techniques but also the operation and control of μBRs is compared to large scale fermentation reactors.
authors.affiliation: KACST-Intel Consortium Center of Excellence in Nano-Manufacturing Applications (CENA), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ; IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, Leuven, Belgium ; Institute of Advanced Technology and New Materials, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, Borg Elarab, Alexandria, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hanaa M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hegab
authors.affiliation: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, Minufiya University, Sadat City, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elmekawy
authors.affiliation: IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stakenborg