Considerations for risk and control of mycoplasma in bioprocessing

Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 22Author(s): Phillip Angart, Casey Kohnhorst, Meng-Jung Chiang, Nilou Sarah ArdenAdventitious agents are a safety risk to biomanufacturing pipelines, from cell line development to upstream and downstream processes. A contamination event can and has effectively shut down plant operations and resulted in drug shortages. To ensure the highest levels of product quality and patient safety, comprehensive control strategies must be in place. Mycoplasma are particularly challenging due to their prevalence in the environment, their small size that allows them to pass through 0.1 μm sterilizing filters, and their ability to persist without noticeable changes to cell culture. This review highlights the detrimental impact of mycoplasma on bioprocessing, the technologies that are being developed and implemented to both reduce the risk of mycoplasma entry and bolster the detection of mycoplasma.Graphical abstract
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research