Animal cell biotechnology
Our aim is to develop production processes for biopharmaceuticals and other bioproducts based on a proper understanding of the biology of the cell and of its interactions with the bioreactor environment. We focus on the production of pharmaceutical proteins and vaccines by CHO cells and insect cells and the production of secondary metabolites and bioproducts by sponges.
Mission
Our mission is to develop optimal and scalable processes for the production of biopharmaceuticals like proteins, vaccines and sponge-derived products.
Research topics
- Pharmaceutical proteins
- Vaccines (baculovirus insect cell expression system)
- Sponge-derived pharmaceuticals als bioproducts
Expertise
- Animal cell culture
- Metabolic modelling
- Sponge biotechnology
Projects
Sponge cell culture for production of bioactive compounds
Marine sponges are a goldmine for new drugs, but harvesting them from the ocean is ecologically unfeasible. To break this supply bottleneck, our project transitions sponge-derived compounds from the seafloor to the bioreactor.
Building on our breakthrough OpM1 medium—which enabled the first-ever continuous sponge cell line (Geodia barretti)—we are now designing a scalable production process. By optimizing culture media, growth kinetics, oxygen requirements, and hybridoma technology, we aim to scale up our cultures from microtiter to bioreactor scale, answering some of the fundamental questions in animal cell biotechnology.
Our final goal is to provide a sustainable, reliable supply of marine natural products, finally unlocking their potential for pharmaceuticals.
Contact persons: Marcela Loy Martinez and Dirk Martens
Partners: Harbor Branch Oceanographic University (Florida Atlantic University) Partners of the Horizon project: Welcome | BLUES
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Research themes
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