The objective is to deliver a trans-European network of industrially oriented specialists fully trained in the development and application of microbioreactor (MBR) technology to support development of innovative bio-based manufacturing processes. The specialistis will be trained by leaders in the field and with state of the art equipment and methodologies. MBRs are a promising tool for screening and scale-up of fermentation and biocatalysis processes due to their low production cost, small working volumes, flexibility and their potential for information-rich experiments under well-controlled experimental conditions. In this consortium, we will further develop MBRs for chemical and biochemical screening, paying special attention to MBR parallelization and applicability for different applications. In addition, characterization of experimental uncertainty, development of reactant feeding strategies at micro-scale and coupling of microscale experimentation to automated design of experiments (DoE) will document applicability of MBRs for chemical and biochemical research. To enhance the applicability of microfluidic enzymatic reactors for organic synthesis, we will establish microfluidic chemo-biocatalytic reaction systems that enable rapid characterization of biosynthetic pathways and chemo-enzymatic conversions. This will be underpinned with immobilization methods that permit rapid and reversible binding of a range of biocatalysts and modeling that relates thekinetic data with results from larger scales. Complemented with precisely positioned fluorescence-based sensor arrays, novel nanosensor particle concepts, and integrated Raman and NIR probes, the MBRs will deliver the data-rich experimentation needed for industrial applications. Data processing and information management will be accomplished by developing CFD and mathematical modeling methods that permit prediction and interpretation of fermentation and biocatalytic processes in MBRs.
