Integrating strategy — a basis for biotechnological methodology

SummaryBioprocessing for successful industrial application on the technical scale needs a clearly-defined and well-developed research methodology. This paper intends to contribute to such activity by developing a ‘paradigm’ from an integrating mode of thinking and working applied to the interdisciplinary field of biotechnology. Bioprocesses are considered as an interactive combination of metabolic mechanisms in the cells and physical transport mechanisms in the bioreactor. The basis for a systematic approach in analysis and design is to quantify and simplify the bioprocesses through kinetic and balance equations.