Bioprocess Microfluidics

Dear Colleagues,

Scale-down approaches have long been applied in bioprocessing to resolve scale-up problems. In early-stage process development, miniaturized bioreactors have thrived as tools to process relevant data with a minimum amount of labor and at a minimum cost. Microfluidic devices are an attractive alternative in bioprocessing development due to the high degree of control over process variables afforded by the laminar flow and the possibility to reduce time and cost factors. Data quality obtained with these devices is high when integrated with sensing technology and is invaluable for scale-translation and to assess the economical viability of bioprocesses. Microfluidic devices as upstream process development tools have been developed in the area of small molecules, therapeutic proteins, and cellular therapies. More recently, they have also been applied to mimic downstream unit operations (Marques and Szita, Curr Opin Chem Eng, 18, 61–68).

This Special Issue aims to host original contributions dealing with advances in the new field of bioprocess microfluidics. This encompasses the application of microfluidics to all fields of bioprocessing (small molecules, therapeutic proteins, cell and gene therapies), either relating to individual unit operations, whole process sequences, or continuous manufacturing.

We are looking in particular for contributions (experimental or modeling) that clearly demonstrate how microfluidics can address the current challenges of bioprocessing, and we request that the authors highlight the expected impact on bioprocessing clearly in their contribution.

Dr. Marco P.C. Marques
Prof. Dr. Nicolas Szita
Guest Editors

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