Laboratory of BioProcess Systems Engineering

Laboratory of BioProcess Systems Engineering (BPSE) has been organized by Prof. Kino-oka since April 2009. The laboratory mission is to bring a good fortune in human life through the elucidation and utilization of “bio-potential” by understanding sequential biological events (BioProcess) in the reaction field (Systems). The main stream in BPSE, as shown in Fig.1, is the bioprocess designs in stem cell and tissue engineering. The research interests, which are targeted for the biological elements governing the reactions (ie. cellular differentiation, undifferentiation, de-undifferentiation, maturation, tissue self-assembling, functionalization etc.) as well as the regions providing the reaction field (ie. 2-D colonies and 3-D spherical and sheet aggregates), are to establish methodologies for process and quality controls in bio-production including the analysis, simulation, forecasting, making great contribution to the stem cell industry (ie. the outputs for manufacturing transplants through design of process and quality controls, for drug screening systems through development of bio-mimic structure, and for mass productions of human biologics through design of scale-up). The outcome includes the establishment of manufacturing process & quality controls (ie. culture design, bioreactor development, monitoring, process automation, etc.), the development of human resources as biochemical engineers, and establishment of standardizations and guidelines for stem cell industrialization.