Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zihan Yang, Zhihang Zhou, Tongxu Si, Zhengdong Zhou, Li Zhou, Y. Rebecca Chin, Liang Zhang, Xinyuan Guan, Mengsu Yang
Summary: Cancer metastasis is a major cause of cancer-related death, and it is characterized by excessive extracellular matrix deposition and increased stiffness in solid tumors. The confined migration of tumor cells in these conditions plays a crucial role in metastasis, but inhibitors specifically targeting this type of migration are rare. In this study, a microfluidic chip was designed to screen for drugs that can effectively inhibit confined migration of cancer cells. By applying this chip, three novel inhibitors of confined migration, MA-5, SB-705498, and diphenyleneiodonium chloride, were discovered in multiple cancer types. The mechanisms of action of these inhibitors were found to be targeting mitochondria, actin polymerization, and cell viability, respectively. Overall, a high-throughput microfluidic platform for screening drugs targeting confined migration was established, and three effective inhibitors were identified.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matthew Rienzo, Shaina J. Jackson, Lawrence K. Chao, Timothy Leaf, Thomas J. Schmidt, Adam H. Navidi, Dana C. Nadler, Maud Ohler, Michael D. Leavell
Summary: Systems metabolic engineering is a challenging task that involves rewiring microbial metabolism to generate high-value molecules from inexpensive feedstocks. High-throughput screening of engineered organism variants for scalable manufacturing potential is necessary, requiring carefully controlled, parallel fermentations and precise analysis of complex mixtures. Strategies to design high-throughput, small-scale fermentation models for predicting improved strain performance at large commercial scale, including microplate and microfluidics-based screening systems, are essential for success.
METABOLIC ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Bisan Samara, Muhammedin Deliorman, Pavithra Sukumar, Mohammad A. Qasaimeh
Summary: A method of creating cryopreservable high throughput arrays of 3D tumor models using a paper platform is presented, utilizing virtual microwells to facilitate cell aggregation and prevent mixing, allowing for extended storage and drug treatment studies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anqi Yang, Xiang Lin, Zijian Liu, Xin Duan, Yurou Yuan, Jiaxuan Zhang, Qilin Liang, Xianglin Ji, Nannan Sun, Huajun Yu, Weiwei He, Lili Zhu, Bingzhe Xu, Xudong Lin
Summary: A novel in vivo screening strategy combining hierarchically structured biohybrid triboelectric nano-generators (HB-TENGs) arrays with computational bioinformatics analysis for high-throughput pharmacological evaluation using Caenorhabditis elegans is described. The animals' behaviors are efficiently converted into friction deformation through HB-TENGs, and the resulting triboelectric signals are extracted for various bioinformation of the screened compounds. The information-rich electrical readouts are sufficient to predict a drug's identity by multiple-Gaussian-kernels-based machine learning methods.
Article
Immunology
Jiyoung Song, Hyeri Choi, Seung Kwon Koh, Dohyun Park, James Yu, Habin Kang, Youngtaek Kim, Duck Cho, Noo Li Jeon
Summary: Recent advances in anticancer therapy have shown significant improvement in clinical outcomes, with adoptive cell therapy emerging as a powerful immunotherapy. This study presents a 3D tumor model that incorporates clusters of CRC cells around vascular networks to assess immune-cell-mediated cytotoxicity against cancer cells, demonstrating high-throughput experimentation and potential for understanding immune responses in adoptive cell therapy assessment.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Zhidong Zhang, Qi Guo, Yuetong Wang, He Huang
Summary: Microfluidics plays a crucial role in green biomanufacturing by genetically modifying microbial chassis to synthesize desired products. Droplet-based microfluidics has been successfully applied to various microbes, enabling the detection of massive metabolites. In summary, droplet microfluidics has evolved into a powerful technology for high-throughput screening in the green biomanufacturing industry.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Minghui Tang, Xin Duan, Anqi Yang, Shijie He, Yajing Zhou, Yuxin Liu, Lu Zhang, Xuan Luo, Peng Shi, Honglin Li, Xudong Lin
Summary: This study describes a fish capsule system that can be used for large-scale functional screening of fish, combined with real-time microscopy. This system allows for rapid screening and analysis of drugs, accelerating the discovery of new therapeutics.
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Lihao Fu, Erpeng Guo, Jianzhi Zhang, Keyi Li, Yongcan Chen, Tong Si
Summary: Microbial cell factories play a crucial role in converting renewable feedstocks into chemicals and materials. The lack of predictive modeling has made high-throughput screening essential for microbial strain engineering. Mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a powerful tool for label-free detection, offering high sensitivity and chemical specificity. Recent advancements in rapid MS assays have significantly improved screening efficiency for microbial libraries, approaching a rate of one sample per second. However, unique challenges in MS screening of strain libraries need to be addressed for future solutions.
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Takeshi Tabuchi, Yohei Yokobayashi
Summary: Cell-free systems without living cells are promising platforms for testing and practical applications. However, biological constraints limit the development of cell-free devices using living cells. This study presents a high-throughput screening method for engineering cell-free riboswitches that respond to small molecules.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiaying Wu, Yue Gao, Jing Xi, Xinyue You, Xiaohong Zhang, Xinyu Zhang, Yiyi Cao, Peichuan Liu, Xiang Chen, Yang Luan
Summary: In this study, an automated and highly-integrated platform was developed for high-throughput and in situ toxicity testing using Caenorhabditis elegans. The platform combines various modules and devices to achieve efficient worm dispensing, long-term maintenance, toxicity monitoring, imaging, and behavioral analysis. It also enables remote operation and phenotype calculation through connection to the web.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Payar Radfar, Lin Ding, Laura Rodriguez de la Fuente, Hamidreza Aboulkheyr, David Gallego-Ortega, Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani
Summary: To address the challenges in isolating and analyzing Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs), researchers developed a high throughput Static Droplet Microfluidic (SDM) device capable of isolating and classifying metabolically active CTCs in peripheral blood at single-cell resolution. The device could accurately measure lactate production of different cancer cells and differentiate them from leukocytes. It was also able to detect cancer cells spiked in healthy blood. Testing on preclinical mouse models demonstrated the ability of the SDM device to distinguish metabolically active CTCs. This research provides a simple and robust workflow for on-site metabolic screening of cancer cells.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Huilin Wen, Haixia Shen, Yangteng Ou, Huan Shao, Minhui Li, Jing Zhang, Zhiqian Zhang, Ziyi Yu
Summary: The use of supramolecular optical chemosensors in droplet-based microfluidic detection and screening system allows for high throughput analysis and screening, and is applicable for enzyme activity measurement and high throughput screening.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2022)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Michal Vasina, Jan Velecky, Joan Planas-Iglesias, Sergio M. Marques, Jana Skarupova, Jiri Damborsky, David Bednar, Stanislav Mazurenko, Zbynek Prokop
Summary: Therapeutic enzymes are valuable biopharmaceuticals that have found successful applications in various biomedical fields. The integration of computational approaches and high-throughput experimental technologies has greatly accelerated the identification and engineering of catalytic therapeutic agents, leading to the discovery of new enzymes and the improvement of their properties.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Thomas Eng, Deepanwita Banerjee, Andrew K. Lau, Emily Bowden, Robin A. Herbert, Jessica Trinh, Jan-Philip Prahl, Adam Deutschbauer, Deepti Tanjore, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay
Summary: Pseudomonas putida KT2440, manipulated through disrupting a majority of non-essential genes, showed improved fitness in stirred-tank bioreactor, resulting in enhanced production of indigoidine from para-coumarate, indicating its potential as a promising biomanufacturing host for the conversion of renewable carbon streams.
METABOLIC ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yao Chen, Lin Jiang, Xiaozhe Zhang, Zhonghua Ni, Nan Xiang
Summary: This article introduces an efficient label-free sorting and mechanical phenotyping method for tumor cells, which utilizes a viscoelastic-sorting integrated deformability cytometer (VSDC) to sort, extract, and analyze the mechanical properties of tumor cells. Machine learning algorithms are used to distinguish tumor cells from white blood cells.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Jorg Toepel, Rohan Karande, Bruno Buehler, Katja Buehler, Andreas Schmid
Summary: Hydrogen (H2) is a promising fuel for climate neutral energy carriers, and photosynthesis-driven H2 production, which relies on sunlight and water, has shown potential. Research has been conducted using cyanobacteria as biocatalysts in capillary biofilm photobioreactors (CBRs). The study found that biofilm formation and stability are influenced by light and CO2 availability, and H2 production rates vary between different cyanobacteria species. By adjusting light and O2 levels, biofilm formation and H2 production could be enhanced, with high stability lasting for weeks. Final biocatalyst titers reached up to 100 g l-1, and H2 production rates were up to 300 mu mol H2 l-1h-1 and 3 mu mol H2 gcdw-1h-1 in biofilms.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Nerea Uri-Carreno, Per H. Nielsen, Krist V. Gernaey, Qian Wang, Ulla Gro Nielsen, Marta Nierychlo, Susan H. Hansen, Lisette Thomsen, Xavier Flores-Alsina
Summary: Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactors (MABRs) are an effective alternative for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with enhanced nitrogen removal capacity and reduced energy consumption. This study demonstrates the impact of oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) on the performance of MABRs, showing that low ORP conditions can hinder nitrification. By increasing ORP and replacing/cleaning membranes, nitrification rates and the abundance of nitrifying organisms were significantly improved. The study also suggests that low ORP conditions promote the reduction of iron and sulfur compounds, leading to deposition in the biofilm and inhibiting nitrifiers growth.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Simon B. Lindahl, Deenesh K. Babi, Krist V. Gernaey, Guerkan Sin
Summary: This paper proposes a methodology for setting up and solving integrated capacity and production planning problems. It utilizes mixed-integer linear programming problems to determine whether capacity levels should be changed. The methodology is applied to case studies from pharmaceutical manufacturing and demonstrates its ability to solve problems of industrial scale and relevance.
COMPUTERS & CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Rokas Garmasukis, Claudia Hackl, Christian Dusny, Christian Elsner, Ales Charvat, Andreas Schmid, Bernd Abel
Summary: This paper presents an innovative and low-cost method for rapid prototyping of microfluidic chips. The technique involves controlled deposition of aqueous microdroplets on a cooled surface to create printed ice microstructures, which are then coated with a UV-curable acrylic cover layer. The technology is applied to create a microfluidic chip for cell-customized optical-cell analysis, and the chip design is optimized for different cell types. The authors demonstrate the feasibility of using this chip for physiological analysis of different cell types.
MICROFLUIDICS AND NANOFLUIDICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Morteza Zadkarami, Ali Akbar Safavi, Krist V. Gernaey, Pedram Ramin, Oscar A. Prado-Rubio
Summary: In recent years, water reclaim has become more relevant due to population increase and the number of industrial sites. Dynamic membrane filtration systems play an important role in water reuse. However, process monitoring of these systems is challenging due to intentional disturbances and input fluctuations, making fault detection and optimal operation difficult. This study presents a fault detection framework using classification methods applied to a pilot-scale dynamic ultrafiltration process. The results show that the Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network classifier has the highest detection accuracy and low false alarms. This framework is significant for digitalization and automated surveillance strategies for membrane system monitoring.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Yiqi Liu, Pedram Ramin, Xavier Flores-Alsina, Krist. Gernaey
Summary: Recent advances in AI and DA offer opportunities for fault management and decision-making in urban wastewater treatment systems (UWS). However, the complexity and size of UWS, variations in instrumentation, and poor data quality pose challenges for AI and DA applications. This review critically analyzes previous work on AI-based data-driven methodologies for system-wide fault detection and management, addressing process and instrumentation faults, and explores the interplay among UWS, data, and AI. It provides insights into the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches and discusses opportunities and challenges.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Gisela Nadal-Rey, John M. Kavanagh, Benny Cassells, Sjef Cornelissen, David F. Fletcher, Krist V. Gernaey, Dale D. McClure
Summary: This study used the particle lifeline approach to quantify the effect of reactor design on industrial organisms. The results showed that cells in the stirred tank reactor experienced longer fluctuations of starvation and overflow metabolism compared to those in the bubble column, due to differences in mixing between the two designs. These findings are important for optimizing large-scale reactor designs and developing scale down systems.
BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Nikolaus I. Vollmer, Carina L. Gargalo, Krist V. Gernaey, Stig I. Olsen, Guerkan Sin
Summary: This study conducted a detailed life cycle assessment of an integrated xylitol biorefinery that utilizes wheat straw as feedstock. Through optimization and techno-economic analysis, the environmental impacts of the biorefinery were evaluated and compared to the current chemical production processes of xylitol. The results showed lower impacts compared to standard chemical production but slightly higher impacts compared to a proprietary production process.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
(2023)
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Fiammetta Caccavale, Carina L. Gargalo, Krist V. Gernaey, Ulrich Kruhne
Summary: In times of educational disruption, significant advances have been made in adopting digitalization strategies. It is important for chemical engineers to be adequately educated to face the challenges of Industry 4.0 and acquire new skills. This study establishes a pedagogical framework to teach Python to chemical engineers, with courses covering topics such as chemical reaction engineering and machine learning. The students found the course to be useful and achieved practical problem-solving using Python.
EDUCATION FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERS
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Automation & Control Systems
Marcus Krogh Nielsen, Jens Dynesen, Jess Dragheim, Ib Christensen, Sten Bay Jorgensen, Jakob Kjobsted Huusom, Krist V. Gernaey, John Bagterp Jorgensen
Summary: In this paper, a novel kinetic growth model for Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is presented, which incorporates growth and pH coupling. The model is applied to a laboratory-scale continuous stirred tank reactor for single-cell protein production. The simulation method ensures non-negativity in state and algebraic variables, and introduces linear scaling for numerical stability. A numerical experiment of economic optimal control for single-cell protein production is conducted, demonstrating non-trivial input profiles for biomass growth and pH tracking.
2023 EUROPEAN CONTROL CONFERENCE, ECC
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Isabella Jul-Jorgensen, Krist V. Gernaey, Christian A. Hundahl
Summary: Cleaning Validation is a critical process in pharmaceutical manufacturing, ensuring that cross-contamination levels remain within acceptable limits. The recent development of handheld Fourier-Transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy provides a feasible solution for real-time release in pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. This paper addresses the challenges of model development for multi-product plants without complete traceability, utilizing a partial least squares discriminant analysis model based on total organic carbon (TOC) measurements to determine cleanliness. The model is tested on artificial samples printed with a chemical printer for multiple products, incorporating different surface roughness spectra, and evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, and class error.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Elham Ramin, Lourenco Faria, Carina L. Gargalo, Pedram Ramin, Xavier Flores-Alsina, Maj M. Andersen, Krist V. Gernaey
Summary: This study presents the first global review of water innovation practices in industrial symbiosis cases, proposing six categories of practices and highlighting regional variations and knowledge gaps, emphasizing the need for further research.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Deborah E. Carberry, Khosrow Bagherpour, John M. Woodley, Christian Beenfeldt, Martin P. Andersson, Ulrich Kruhne, Seyed Soheil Mansouri
Summary: This study designs and develops a virtual reality product to support teaching and learning in chemical engineering. By analyzing learning objectives and measuring resources, it identifies the opportunity to cultivate students' basic skills using virtual reality solutions in undergraduate courses. It proposes a strategic plan for developing virtual reality teaching tools for experiment-based courses.
DIGITAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Carina L. Gargalo, Haoshui Yu, Nikolaus Vollmer, Ahmad Arabkoohsar, Krist Gernaey, Guerkan Sin
Summary: With the increasing concern for climate change, renewable and sustainable energy production has attracted considerable attention. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an effective tool for comparing environmental impacts. However, there are differences in the choice of LCA methods, detail sharing, and sensitivity analysis among different studies, making it difficult to compare results.
COMPUTERS & CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Jesper Frandsen, Jakob K. Huusom, Krist V. Gernaey, Jens Abildskov
Summary: This paper presents a method for the design and verification of isocratic and gradient simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography based on the triangle theory. The method is applicable to a wide range of isotherms and multicomponent systems, and explores the influence of modifier concentrations on gradient SMB performance.
