Microbial fermentation is a powerful tool with a bright future, but it also faces some challenges. This contributed volume is dedicated toward some of the current and contemporary issues in this field, such as:
Scaling up production: Many exciting products can be created through fermentation, but scaling these processes from the lab to industrial production can be difficult. This involves optimising conditions for large-scale fermentation tanks, ensuring consistent product quality, and keeping costs competitive.
Strain development: Finding or engineering the most efficient and productive microbial strains is crucial. Researchers are looking for ways to improve the yield and desired product formation of these microbes. This might involve techniques like genetic modification or harnessing the vast diversity of the microbial world to find new players.
Sustainability: Fermentation processes need to be environmentally friendly. Finding sustainable feedstocks (the starting materials for fermentation) is important, especially as we move away from reliance on fossil fuels. Additionally, minimizing waste products and energy consumption during fermentation are key areas of focus.
Integration with other technologies: The future of fermentation is likely to involve its integration with other technologies. For instance, combining fermentation with advanced materials science or artificial intelligence could lead to even more innovative applications.
By addressing these issues, researchers and industry leaders can unlock the full potential of microbial fermentation and create a more sustainable and innovative future.
Part I: Strain Development.
Chapter 1: Process-guided engineering of
whole-cell biocatalysts for enhanced performance in fermentations at scale.-
Part II: Fermentation technology and process development.
Chapter 2:
Bioprocess monitoring how much do we need to know for successful
scale-up?.
Chapter 3: Miniaturized bioreactor systems for speeding up the
development of microbial fermentation processes.
Chapter 4: Parallelized
bioprocess development in small-scale bioreactors.
Chapter 5:
High-Cell-Density Cultivation of Microorganisms.
Chapter 6: Photoautotrophic
fermentation.
Chapter 7: Solid-state fermentation as a sustainable
bioprocessing approach.
Chapter 8: Precision Fermentation for Functional
Protein Production.
Chapter 9: Microbial Fermentation for Lipase Production:
Advances in Enzyme Engineering and Industrial Applications.- Part III: Model
assisted process development.
Chapter 10: Standardized process engineering
characterization and biological evaluation of stirred bioreactors for
microbial processes.
Chapter 11: CFD simulations for modelling of transport
phenomena in large scale bioreactors.
Chapter 12: Simultaneous Process and
Mathematical Model Design for Microbial Cultivations.
Chapter 13:
Fermentations in the era of metagenomics and machine learning.- Part IV:
Downstream techniques.
Chapter 14: Membrane separation and purification in
downstream processing - novel approaches to classical problems.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Pörtner: Senior research associate and group leader at Technical University Hamburg, Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering until 2024 and Honorary Professor at TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Giessen. The main research interests of Prof. Pörtner are development and optimization of bioreactor techniques and process strategies, in particular for cell cultures and microbial reactions, including model-based control concepts, and tissue engineering. He has in total published about 150 peer-reviewed papers.
M. Al-Rubeai is an emeritus professor at the University College Dublin. Previously he was a professor at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is the author of over 500 professional papers, reviews, books, book chapters, patents, and articles that reflect his broad interest in mammalian cell culture, production of biopharmaceuticals, tissue engineering, stem cell bioprocessing, and biomaterials. He is a recipient of many scientific awards, including the Donald Medal, SFI award, honorary Doctorate (DSc) and Asellus Prize. He is also interested in Education in which he published several books.
