Modeling the biomechanics of cells on microcarriers in a stirred-tank bioreactor An ABM-CFD coupling approach
Highly productive and efficient growth of biomass in bioreactors is an essential bioprocess outcome in many industrial applications. In the nascent cultivated meat industry, large-scale biomass creation will be critical given the size of demand in the conventional meat and seafood sectors. However, there are many challenges that must be overcome before cultivated meat and seafood become commercially viable including cost reductions of cell culture media, bioprocess design innovation and optimization, and scaling up in the longer term. Computational modelling and simulation can help to address many of these challenges, and can be a far cheaper and faster alternative to performing physical experiments. Computer modelling can also help researchers pinpoint system interactions that matter, and guide researchers to identify those parameters that should be changed in later designs for eventual optimization. In this work, a computational model that combines agent-based modeling and computational fluid dynamics was developed to study biomass growth as a function of the operative conditions of stirred-tank bioreactors. The focus was to analyze how the mechanical stress induced by rotor speed can influence the growth of cells attached to spherical microcarriers. The computer simulation results reproduced observations from physical experiments that high rotor speeds reduce cell growth rates and induce cell death under the high mechanical stresses induced at these stir speeds. Moreover, the results suggest that modeling both cell death and cell quiescence are required to recapitulate these observations from physical experiments. These simulation outcomes are the first step towards more comprehensive models that, in combination with experimental observations, will improve our knowledge of biomass production in bioreactors for cultivated meat and other industries.