Speaker
Description
From research to clinical development and production, Mycoplasma are well-recognized and widespread contaminants in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Their successful proliferation despite the ultrafiltration performed to eliminate them has been attributed in part to the flexibility of their cell walls.
How does this bacterium manage to squeeze through pores that are, in some cases, one-third of its size? We build on a force-balance approach to quantify a threshold transmembrane pressure that determines retention versus passage, then use semi-analytical modeling based on elasticity relations, Stokes equations, and the method of reflections to explore the deformation and motion of a bacterium once it has trespassed into a pore.
This work aims to identify the maximum flow conditions at which membrane filtration remains a viable strategy for the filtering out of Mycoplasma from permeate to effectively inform the processes and materials employed to eradicate it. This research is funded by NSF CBET-2211001.
