The biotech and pharmaceutical industries, along with several other sectors, are set to see increased efficiency thanks to a breakthrough from MIT researchers. According to a report by MIT News, these engineers have devised a method to unstick cells from surfaces, addressing a prevalent issue that causes significant waste and downtime during cleaning.
The new technology uses electrochemically generated bubbles to detach cells on demand. The ramifications of this are substantial, given the downtime and waste associated with the cleaning process needed to remove these cells. For instance, microorganisms used in bioreactors for CO2 absorption require frequent cleaning due to their adhesive properties. Similarly, gene and cell therapies in the pharmaceutical industry involve cell cultures that also tend to stick, complicating the production process. The MIT team's approach promises to be a scalable solution across diverse applications.
Professor Kripa Varanasi, senior author of the study, emphasized the high-throughput, plug-and-play nature of the technology that facilitates cells to attach and detach as needed. "This is a fundamental issue with cells, and we’ve solved it with a process that can scale. It lends itself to many different applications," Varanasi told MIT News. The technique involves inducing a current through a gold electrode on a glass surface. This engineering feat importantly circumvents the production of harmful bleach, which was a side effect of previous attempts using electric currents in salt-containing cell culture mediums.
Moving beyond the lab prototype, the researchers tested their setup on various types of cells, including algae and mammalian cells, without damaging them. "Mammalian cells are orders of magnitude more sensitive than algae cells, but even with those cells, we were able to detach them with no impact to the viability of the cell," explained co-first author Bert Vandereydt in a statement acquired by MIT News. Such versatility is vital, as the process could potentially be deployed in numerous settings that range from pharmaceutical and food production to biofuel development, and even in the implementation of biosensors and medical implants.
While the team acknowledges the road ahead to upscale their innovation, the potential impact of this technology is significant. Not only could it streamline the harvesting of algae and other cells for green applications, but it can also make the production processes in pharmaceuticals more economical. The research, supported by Eni S.p.A through the MIT Energy Initiative, the Belgian American Educational Foundation Fellowship, and the Maria Zambrano Fellowship, could well be a game-changer in how industries approach the persistent, sticky problem of cell adhesion.
