Short Programs

Fermentation Technology [10.48s]

Date: July 30-August 3, 2012 | Tuition: $3,950 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 2.8
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Overview  |  Learning Objectives  |  Outline of the Program  |  Schedule  |  Participants' Comments  | 
Staff  |  About the Directors  |  Location  |  Updates

Overview

“Fermentation Technology” is the longest-run course in the MIT Professional Education catalog, having been offered continuously for more than 40 years. This course emphasizes the application of biological and engineering principles to problems involving microbial, mammalian, and biological/biochemical systems. The aims of the course are to review fundamentals and provide an up-to-date account of current knowledge in biological and biochemical technology. The lectures will emphasize and place perspectives on biological systems with industrial practices.

This course has made some major additions, modifications, and revisions in the course topics and course contents over the past couple of years. Relative to the 2010 session, and in recognition of the increasing number of attendees from non-pharmaceutical industries, we are rebalancing the course to provide equal emphasis on mammalian and microbial technologies. More than half of the lecturers are currently working in industry or have industrial experience.

The course is intended for engineers, biologists, chemists, microbiologists, and biochemists who are interested in the areas of biological systems in prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts. It is desirable that individuals enrolled be familiar with some of the general aspects of modern biology, genetics, biochemical engineering, and biochemistry. Some general knowledge of mathematics is also desirable for dealing with the engineering aspects of the course.

Learning Objectives

• Examine the application of biological and engineering principles to problems involving microbial, mammalian, and biological/biochemical systems.
• Recognize the fundamentals of fermentation technology.
• Describe current knowledge in biological and biochemical technology, with a focus on industrial practices.
• Comprehend growth and metabolism, genetics and metabolic engineering in the age of genomics, the biological basis for monitoring bioprocesses including process analytical technology, and applications of the modern biological concepts in bioprocess developments.
• Examine eukaryotic and prokaryotic protein expression relevant to industrial practice, including post-translational modifications (esp. protein glycosylation).
• Assess power requirements in bioreactors, modeling of bioprocesses, traditional and new concepts in bioprocess monitoring, and the biological basis for industrial fermentations and cell cultures.
• Distinguish bioreactor operations in bacteria and mammalian cell systems, oxygen transfer and shear in bioreactors, process improvement through metabolic manipulations, and scale-up of bioreactors such as bacterial, yeast, and mammalian cells.
• Analyze the bioprocess paradigm: scale-down, bioprocess simulation and economics, sterilization, and bioburden in biological manufacturing.
• Examine considerations in bioprocess simulation and economics, sterilization in biological manufacturing, and clinical implications of bioprocesses.

Outline of the Program

Lectures, given in both morning and afternoon sessions and completed at 12:00 noon on Friday, will cover the following topics:

• Growth and Metabolism
• Molecular Biology in Bioprocess Developments: with 3 Parts (Modified from 2008 lectures)
• Bioprocess Concepts in Mammalian Cell Culture Technology
• Protein Expression in Bacterial and Mammalian Cells: Basic Concepts and Methods for Improvements (All New Material in 2009)
• Post Translational Modifications: Protein Glycosylation (All New Material in 2009)
• Biological Basis for Industrial Fermentations and Cell Cultures
• Power Requirements in Bioreactors
• Oxygen Transfer and Shear in Bioreactors
• Bioreactor Operations in Bacterial and Mammalian Cell Systems
• Modeling and Traditional Bioprocess Monitoring
• Scale-up of Bioreactors: Bacteria, Yeast, and Mammalian Cells
• Media and Air Sterilization
• Process Analytical Technology
• Clinical Implications of Bioprocesses
• Bioprocess Simulation and Economics

The course will provide detailed notes and a CD-ROM, which are included in the tuition. Computer power is available in the lecture hall.

Course schedule, registration times, special events

Class begins at 8:30 am on Monday and at 9:00 am the rest of the week. Class runs until 4:30 - 5:30 pm each day (variable) except for Friday when it ends at 1:00 pm.

Registration is on Monday morning from 7:30 - 8:15 am.

Special events include a reception for course participants and faculty on Monday night and a dinner on Thursday evening. All evening activities are included in tuition.

Participants' Comments

A Microbiologist from Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), US Army:
"I would definitely recommend this course to colleagues. In fact, I already have. I would recommend it because of its prominence in the pharmaceutical community. You guys should know that this course is considered the very best in fermentation by word of mouth. It doesn't hurt that it is offered by the most prominent technological University in the country."

An Associate Scientist from GlaxoSmithKline Biological, North America:
"It's a great overview of fermentation theories incorporating all aspects from research down to manufacturing functions. The presenters are all top-notch and knew how to keep their presentation interesting and engaging."

A Project Manager from Epitopix:
"It really passes the fundamentals of fermentation and gets into the real world of analytical measurement, scale-up, media formulation and the theory behind applications."

A Technology Engineer from Wyeth Pharmaceutical:
"I felt like the course was well organized, was a good blend of biology and engineering, and has a good balance of practical experience."

Staff

The program is under the direction of Professor Daniel I. C. Wang and Dr. Kristala L.J. Prather. Lectures will be presented by:

Dr. Charles L. Cooney, Robert T. Haslam (1911) Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and the Faculty Director of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT

Dr. Robert D. Kiss, Director, Late Stage Culture Development, Genentech, Inc., S. San Francisco, CA

Dr. James C. Leung, Adjunct Associate Professor, Northeastern University; Visiting Scientist, Department of Biology, MIT

Dr. Kristala L. Jones Prather, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT

Dr. Morris Z. Rosenberg, Senior Vice President of Development at Seattle Genetics, Inc., Seattle, WA

Dr. Daniel I.C. Wang, Institute Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT

About the Directors

Daniel I. C. Wang

Dr. Daniel I.C. Wang is Institute Professor of Chemical Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in Biochemical Engineering from MIT and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the recipient of numerous awards from the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and from schools here and abroad. He has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineering. He has twice received Outstanding Teaching Awards at MIT and is a member of the Editorial Board of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Comprehensive Biotechnology, Advances in Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering News and World Scientific Publishing Life Sciences.

His publications comprise 250+ papers, 5 books and 15 patents and some of his selected publications include:

Xie, L. and D.I.C. Wang (1997). Integrated Approaches to the Design of Media and Feeding Strategies for Fed-Batch Cultures of Animal Cell. Trends in Biotechnology 15: 109-113.

Gu, X., B.J. Harmon and D.I.C. Wang (1997). Site-And-Branch-Specific Sialyation of Recombinant Human Interferon-Gamma In Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Culture. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 55: 390-398.

Gu, X. and D.I.C. Wang (1997). Improvement of Interferon-Gamma Sialyzation in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Culture by Feeding of N-Acetylmannosamine. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 58: 642-647.

Zhang, J. and D.I.C. Wang (1998). Quantitative Analysis and Process Monitoring of Site-Specific Glycosylation Microheterogeneity in Recombinant Human Interferon Gamma From Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Culture by Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography. J. of Chromatography B 712: 73-82.

Goswami, J., A.J.Sinskey, H. Steller, G.N. Stephanopoulos and D.I.C. Wang (1999). Apoptosis in Batch Cultures of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 62: 633-640.

Chen, K., Q. Liu, P.A. Sharp and D.I.C. Wang (2001). Engineering of Mammalian Cell Line for Reduction of Lactate Formation and High Monoclonal Antibody Production. Bioengineering and Biotechnology 72: 55-61.

Yuk, I.H., S. Wildt, D.I.C. Wang, M. Jolicoeur and G. Stephanopoulos (2002). A GFP-Based Screen for Growth-Arrested Recombinant Protein-Producing Cells. An Effective Screen for Growth-Arrested Protein Production Cell-Lines. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 79, 74-82.

Yin, J., J-H. Lin, W-T. Li and D.I.C. Wang (2003). Evaluation of different promoters and host strains for the high-level expression of collagen-like polymer in Escherichia coli. Journal of Biotechnology 100, 181-191.

Fox, S.R., M. Yap and D.I.C. Wang (2004). Maximizing Interferon-γ by Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells Through Temperature Shift Optimization. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 85(2), 177-184.

Fox, S.R., Hong Kiat Tan, Mei Chee Tan, S. C. Niki C. Wong, Miranda G.S. Yap and D.I.C. Wang, (2005), Detailed understanding of the enhanced hypothermic productivity of interferon-γ by Chinese hamster ovary cells, Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, 41, 255-264.

Wong, N., M. Yap and D.I.C. Wang (2006). “Enhancing Recombinant Glycoprotein Sialylation through CMP-Sialic Acid Transporter Over Expression in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells,” Biotechnology and Bioengineering 93(5), 1005-1016.

Olle, B., Bucak, S., Holmes, T.C., Bromberg, L., T.A. Hatton and Wang, D.I.C. (2006). “Enhancement of Oxygen Transfer Using Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles,” Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research 45, 4355-4363.

Kristala L. Jones Prather
Kristala Jones Prather is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and an investigator in the multi-institutional Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC) funded by the National Science Foundation (USA). She received an S.B. degree from MIT in 1994 and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1999), and worked 4 years in BioProcess Research and Development at the Merck Research Labs (Rahway, NJ). She is the recipient of a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award (2004), an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2005), a Technology Review “TR35” Young Innovator Award (2007), and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2010). Prather has been recognized for excellence in teaching with the C. Michael Mohr Outstanding Faculty Award for Undergraduate Teaching in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering (2006) and the MIT School of Engineering Junior Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching (2010).

Professor Prather has co-authored more than 30 manuscripts and 2 book chapters, and has 6 patent applications pending. Selected publications include:

Prather, K.L.J., M.C. Edmonds, and J.W. Herod. 2006. “Identification and characterization of IS1 transposition in plasmid amplification mutants of E. coli clones producing DNA vaccines.” Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 73:815-826.

Prather, K.L.J. and C.H. Martin. 2008. “De novo biosynthetic pathways: rational design of microbial chemical factories.” Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 19(5):468-474.

Nielsen, D.R., and K.L.J. Prather. 2009. “In Situ Product Recovery of n-Butanol using Polymeric Resins.” Biotechnol. Bioeng. 102(3):811-821.

Moon, T.S., S.-H. Yoon, A.M. Lanza, J.D. Roy-Mayhew, and K.L.J. Prather. 2009. “Production of glucaric acid from a synthetic pathway in recombinant Escherichia coli.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75(3):589-595.

Nielsen, D.R., E. Leonard, S.-H. Yoon, H.-C. Tseng, C. Yuan, and K.J. Prather. 2009. “Engineering alternative butanol production platforms in heterologous bacteria.” Metab. Eng. 11:262-273.

Dueber, J.E., G.C. Wu, G. R. Malmirchegini, T.S. Moon, C.J. Petzold, A.V. Ullal, K.L.J. Prather, J.D. Keasling. 2009. “Synthetic protein scaffolds provide modular control over metabolic flux.” Nature Biotechnol. 27(8):753-759.

Moon, T.S., J. E. Dueber, and K. L. J. Prather. 2010. “Use of modular, synthetic scaffolds for improved production of glucaric acid in engineered E. coli.” Metab. Eng. 12:298-305.

Leonard, E., P. Ajikumar, K. Thayer, W.-H. Xia, J.D. Mo, B. Tidor, G. Stephanopoulos, K.L.J. Prather. 2010. “Combining metabolic and protein engineernig of a terpenoid biosynthetic pathway for overproduction and selectivity control.” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 107(31):13654-13659.

Location

This course takes place on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We can also offer this course for groups of employees at your location. Please contact the Short Programs office for further details.

Updates

Professor Prather has won the Junior Bose Teaching Award. See the story as featured in an MIT News article on December 15, 2010--click here to read the article.