By
Pauline Doran
Description
The emergence and refinement of techniques in molecular biology has changed our perceptions of medicine, agriculture, and environmental
management. Scientific breakthroughs in gene expression, protein engineering, and cell fusion are being translated by a strengthening
biotechnology industry into revolutionary new products and services. Many a student has been enticed by the promise of biotechnology
and the excitement of being near the cutting edge of scientific advancement. However, graduates trained in molecular biology and cell
manipulation soon realize that these techniques are only part of the picture. Reaping the full benefits of biotechnology requires manufacturing
capability involving the large-scale processing of biological material. Increasingly, biotechnologists are being employed by companies
to work in cooperation with chemical engineers to achieve pragmatic commercial goals. For many years, aspects of biochemistry and molecular
genetics have been included in chemical engineering curricula, yet there has been little attempt until recently to teach aspects of engineering
applicable to process design to biotechnologists.
This textbook is the first to present the principles of bioprocess engineering in
a way that is accessible to biological scientists. Other texts on bioprocess engineering currently available assume that the reader already
has engineering training. On the other hand, chemical engineering textbooks do not consider examples from bioprocessing, and are written
almost exclusively with the petroleum and chemical industries in mind. This publication explains process analysis from an engineering
point of view, but refers exclusively to the treatment of biological systems. Over 170 problems and worked examples encompass a wide
range of applications, including recombinant plant and animal cell cultures, immobilized catalysts, as well as traditional fermentation
systems.
Audience:
@aud:AUDIENCE: Senior undergraduate students in applied biology taking final year options in bioprocessing/biotechnology and graduate
students in biological sciences taking masters courses, or beginning research in engineering departments. This book should also be useful
to undergraduates taking new, emerging courses bridging the gap between biology and engineering, such as BS/BSc in process biotechnology,
biotechnology, and bioprocessing. In addition, undergraduates/graduates in chemical engineering taking courses in bioengineering will
benefit from this text. Finally, industrial practitioners working in biotechnology, pharmaceutical companies, food industries, and those
trained in molecular biology and cell manipulation, who need to acquire knowledge on the principles of large scale processing of biological
material.
