Background

Overview of BSL2

BSL2 or Biosafety Level 2 is a laboratory standard for moderately hazardous microorganisms. These organisms can harm humans, animals, plants or nature, but are typically not serious laboratory pathogens, or the prevention and treatment is in place already. BSL2 labs are mid-level of the biosafety level system between the low level BSL1 and the high level BSL3/BSL4.

Personal Protection, Equipment and Facilities, Laboratory Design, Waste Disposal, Training and Procedures — these are the major differences and improvements of BSL2 compared to BSL1. The risk of infection by contact with the skin or mucous membranes is higher in BSL2 labs because of the higher level of personal protection. Equipment and facilities in BSL2 laboratories, there is typically a biosafety cabinet for handling infectious samples, and an eyewash station and emergency shower. BSL2 in laboratory design, where the airflow must be controlled such that the air in the lab doesn't reach the outdoors thereby preventing pathogens from passing through. In the case of waste disposal, BSL2 laboratory waste must be completely sterilised and treated to ensure that bacteria don't make it to the environment as waste. Additionally, the personnel in BSL2 labs must be trained in higher levels of biosafety to know what the risks are and how to operate in the presence of moderately harmful pathogens.

Advantages of BSL2 Fermentation

BSL2 fermentation offers a number of different advantages for industries and research where BSL1 simply isn't enough biosafety. These benefits offer safety and efficacy for medium-risk microbes, which makes the door open for more sophisticated and multifarious applications. Specific Advantages are as follows:

Enhanced Safety and Compliance:

• BSL2 laboratories have stricter safety procedures and devices (biological safety cabinets, autoclaves) to safely handle pathogens that are moderately dangerous for employees and the environment.
• More comprehensive regulatory compliance – for industries with moderately toxic substances – which offers assurance.

Broader Range of Applications:

• Working with more diverse microbes, even those potentially moderately health-threatening, open up new avenues of research in medicine, pharmacology and the environment.
• Useful for biological research and production of a variety of biological products, vaccine research, health research, etc.

Cost-Effective Solutions:

• BSL2 fermentation facilities are designed to balance safety with cost-efficiency, providing high-quality fermentation processes without prohibitive expenses associated with higher safety levels.
• Advanced safety features reduce potential loss from contamination, ensuring productive and reliable fermentation outcomes.

Cutting-Edge Equipment and Technical Expertise:

• Easy access to the latest equipment and technologies for high precision and cutting edge fermentations, which allows for more research and production.
• Qualified and dedicated teams for best efficiency and security, expert assistance for various fermentation projects.

Quality Assurance and Support:

• Robust quality assurance measures ensure the integrity and reliability of fermentative products, meeting industry standards and client expectations.
• Comprehensive support systems facilitate smooth project execution, from initial consultation to successful completion.

Applications of BSL2 Fermentation

The utilization of BSL2 fermentation is marked by a diverse array of applications that address both current scientific needs and commercial demands. Generally, BSL2 fermentation serves pivotal roles in research, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology by accommodating microorganisms and biological agents that pose moderate risks.

• Research and Development. The BSL2 fermentation chambers are the key to doing high-throughput microbiology experiments. Scientists deploy them to test and tamper with infectious agents too toxic for BSL1 conditions but that don't demand the extra measures of higher biosafety zones.
• Pharmaceutical Industry. Pharmaceutical industry requires BSL2 fermentation for vaccine, antibiotic and therapeutic preparations. Vaccines and drug effectiveness tests are easy, thanks to safe cultivation and research on infectious diseases like flu strains.
• Biotechnology and Industrial Applications. BSL2 environments support the cultivation of genetically modified organisms used in industrial biotechnology. These applications include enzyme production, biofuel generation, and biodegradable material synthesis, reflecting growing trends in sustainable technology development.

Through its strategic balance of safety and capability, BSL2 fermentation facilitates crucial advancements and innovation in several key domains, highlighting its importance in both present and future biotechnological landscapes. Meanwhile Creative BioMart Microbe continues to innovate in the field of fermentation, constantly developing excellent strains and efficient fermentation processes, and equipped with BSL2-level fermentation capabilities. Please feel free to contact us for more information about our BSL2 advanced fermentation.

Service Procedure

Service Details

BSL2 Level Fermentation Product Production

Fermentation with BSL2 in the laboratory is typically used to create medium biosafety microbes or metabolites. What fermentation production can be produced in this type of laboratory is any of the following products:

• Enzymes: enzymes in food, drugs, biotechnology, etc.
• Organic acids: acid like citric acid, lactic acid, etc., used extensively in the food and pharmaceutical industry.
• Amino acids: glutamic acid, lysine, etc. are found mostly in food supplements and animal feed.
• Antibiotics: like penicillins, streptomycins and other pharmaceutical components.
• Vaccines and biologics: such products are produced under BSL2 conditions, and the target microorganisms are usually relatively harmless to healthy people.
• Natural pigments and flavors: natural additives used in the food and cosmetics industries.
• Bioplastics: The microbial fermentation process of some degradable plastics is also carried out under BSL2 conditions.

Strain Screening and Optimization

Our services focus on ensuring the most suitable microorganisms are used in the fermentation process through professional BSL2-level strain selection and optimization. This includes utilizing the latest advances in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Our screening process not only includes natural selection and mutagenesis breeding, but also involves high-throughput screening technologies that can quickly identify and select strains with excellent performance. In addition, we also use genetic engineering methods such as CRISPR-Cas9 for precise gene editing to construct engineered strains with desired characteristics.

Precise Fermentation Monitoring

Our process control technology tracks the fermentation process from the moment of opening. Control parameters like pH, dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide are set at the highest level to maintain the quality of the production environment and output of the products. Through online analytical instruments and tail gas analysis devices, we are able to measure the concentration and composition of the reaction solution in real time, predict reaction trends, and diagnose abnormal conditions. In addition, model-based control strategies and multivariate statistical modeling methods enable us to optimize the operation of the production system, thereby improving the formation efficiency and conversion rate of the target product.

Small-scale, Pilot and Large-scale Fermentation Services

In the pilot stage, we focus on developing and optimizing production processes, determining dominant strains and fermentation conditions, and simplifying equipment technical conditions and process flows. In the pilot stage, we will embody these processes in industrial production to verify the maturity and rationality of the synthetic process route, usually at a scale of 50-100 times that of the pilot, using the principle of step-by-step amplification. Finally, in the large-scale production stage, we achieve mass production of more than tons, involving the fermentation tank's piping system, stirring system, detection system, data analysis system, and feedback system, which work together to improve the fermentation process.

Our Advantages

• Professional Biosafety. We are able to handle medium risk biological agents while ensuring the safety of personnel and the environment.
• Advanced Process Control Technology. We can monitor key parameters during the fermentation process in real time to ensure a stable production environment and high-quality product output.
• Strict Quality and Safety Standards. We strictly follow the pharmacopoeias of various countries and domestic and international regulations to ensure the authenticity, validity and data integrity of the test results.
• Comprehensive Service Capabilities. This includes strain screening, optimization, fermentation process control and monitoring, as well as seamless scale-up from small to large scale production.

Case Study

Case Study 1: Extraction of a particular protein by using yeast as the medium.

In one recent work, our group was able to use yeast fermentation to generate a target protein. The aim of the work was to show that yeast fermentation could produce high yield and high purity proteins that could be used in a therapeutic context. Expanded fermentation was run in a BSL2-controlled plant, which was safe and efficient. The fermentation parameters of pH, temperature and oxygen were precisely controlled for protein production. For ultrapurity, the crude extract was precipitated with ammonium sulphate, an age-old, efficient protein purification process. This precipitated the target protein, thus separating it from undesirable contaminants based on solubility differences. The precipitated protein was then downstream processed by dialysis and chromatography until the purity level was met.

Fig. 1. Ammonium sulfate precipitation.

Case Study 2: Efficient production of target protein using E. coli expression system.

In a new fermentation project, a new type of bioactive protein needs to be produced for drug development and clinical research. The protein has complex structure and function, requiring a high-yield and high-purity production process. We provide a full set of BSL2 solutions, using Escherichia coli expression system for the production of target proteins. By precisely controlling key steps such as transformation, induction expression, protein purification and renaturation, we ensure the successful expression and purification of the target protein. The results show that the target protein is efficiently expressed in the form of inclusion bodies in Rosetta (DE3) and BL21 (DE3) host strains, and the expression level increases with the increase of induction temperature. Through Ni-IDA-Sepharose CL-6B column purification and dialysis renaturation method, we obtained a high-purity soluble protein.

Fig. 2. SDS-PAGE analysis of dialyzed protein.

FAQs