MEB 361
Advanced Fundamental Microbial Fermentation Lab

Microbial fermentation generates products for every facet of life. The technology is used in the food, pharmaceutical, biologics, enzyme, and green technology industries, as a few examples. This course will provide students with hands-on experience setting up, operating and analyzing fermentations. Students will learn how to conduct growth studies in shake flasks and in a fermentor, induce protein production and perform assays to measure growth and product yields. Experiments will be conducted with a microbial strain expressing a protein. Good documentation is key for regulated industries and will be a key feature for assessing student performance in the course. Students will keep accurate detailed experimental plans, lab notebooks, batch records, analysis results and experimental reports. Teams will give oral presentations of their results and participate in group discussions comparing the different results.

MEng program students only

1. Students should be able to aseptically inoculate, grow and monitor a shake flask. They should be able to graph data, calculate logarithmic doubling time and specific growth rate. They should also be able to determine the time to achieve specific ODs based on calculated information using specific growth parameters. Assessment: Review of a lab notebook demonstrating data collection and analysis.
2. Students should be able to identify and understand the use each component of a fermentor and the control system. Students should be able to measure and calculate kLa and mixing times under specific operational parameters. Assessment: Quiz (oral or written) and lab notebook demonstrating data collection and analysis.
3. Students should be able to conduct a growth curve under specific operational parameters. Students should be able to set up the fermentor, make and sterilize medium and additional solutions, aseptically add medium and solutions to adjust pH and set up the fermentor controller. Students should be able to inoculate the fermentor and sample it periodically for OD measurement. Students should be able to graph data, calculate logarithmic doubling time and specific growth rate, determine time to achieve specific ODs based on calculated information using specific growth parameters. Assessment: Review of a lab notebook demonstrating data collection and analysis.
4. Students should be able to operate a fermentor to grow the cells to a specific density and then induce synthesis of a recombinant protein. Students should be able to set up the fermentor, make and sterilize medium and additional solutions, aseptically add medium and solutions to adjust pH and set up the fermentor controller. Students should be able to inoculate the fermentor and sample it periodically for OD measurement and at the target OD, induce protein synthesis and continue sampling for OD as well as protein synthesis. Students should be able to graph data, calculate logarithmic doubling time, specific growth rate, and protein expression rate. Assessment: Review of a lab notebook demonstrating data collection and analysis and team presentation.