These devices are designed to simulate a natural biochemical setting for tissues or cell growth in microbial or cell cultures and are commonly used in upstream bioprocessing, fundamental research, and industrial processes. Growth and cultivation is accomplished by providing a biologically controlled environment where pH, temperature, oxygen levels, and moisture are all tunable, allowing researchers to create the optimal environment for specific cell culture.

Some of the most critical environmental conditions controlled include aeration, agitation, nutrient, and pH, as cells are susceptible to these conditions. For this reason, one of the most critical bioreactor functions is to provide dissolved oxygen to cells continuously (aeration).

These controlled environments can facilitate anaerobic or aerobic chemical processes involving organisms directly or biochemically active substances from such organisms.

Standalone bioreactors and systems can either be closed or open and are found in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. They are commonly used to manufacture pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and more.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and antibody therapies has led to advanced process strategies that overcome traditional batch cultivation limitations and provide scientists with high cell density cultivation methods using modern bioreactors.

Models come in a range of sizes depending on their uses, from benchtop units to industrial-sized systems, as well as several operation types, including:

• Batch Reactor: This refers to a system that uses a tank equipped with an agitator and a temperature control system.
• Fed-Batch Culture: This involves adding substrates to the bioreactor while cultivation is occurring. Additionally, all products remain within the bioreactor. It is also referred to as semi-continuous.
• Continuous Reactor: A reactor where the enzymes or other reactants are added continuously, and the product comes out at a continuous rate. Also known as flow reactors, these models provide options for process intensification and high cell density production without negatively affecting the cell line.

Bioreactors and bioreactor systems are helpful outside of the life sciences, as well. They are employed in biomass production, making the production of organic material such as algae, animal cells, and single-cell proteins much more efficient. They can form metabolites like ethanol, pigments, and organic acids. And lastly, they are useful in biochemical engineering, specifically for tissue growth, proving themselves useful in the emerging field of 3D tissue engineering.