03|10|2024

     Givaudan Active Beauty            has equiped the lab with the CiYOU

Since march 2023, a CiYOU is used on the Ile Grande site, in Brittany, for the microalgae culture.

Recently graduated of a Master’s degree in Marine biotechnologies, Mathilde used the CiYOU for 6 months during her internship.

Here she tells us her impressions about and her experience.

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Internship subject

Freshwater microalgae cultures by heterotrophy, mixotrophy and autotrophy in the CiYOU bioreactor : looking at the strain  behavior and comparison (growth monitoring, microscopic observations).

What’s your experience of running a culture & bioreactor ?

« Before using the CiYOU, I hadn’t used a lot bioreactors. Only 1 practical on animal cells in engineering school. I’ve also used a 50L bag photobioreactor. »

Who used the CiYOU the most ?

« It was me.

I used it everyday. At the end of my interneship, I trained two technicians so that they could continue with the subjects. »

What do you remember from the CiYOU ?

« The CiYOU is different from the other systems I’ve seen. During the 6 months of my internship, and after a few uses, it was easy to handle.

This is a very simple bioreactor. »

As Mathilde says, the CiYOU is easy to handle even if we have no experience in bioreactor running. That is to say that the equipment is perfectly adapted to students and new users.

And for more experienced users, it’s a child’s play!

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What do you think about the assembly and the cleaning of the bioreactors ?

« Although heavy when we bring the vessel to the autoclave, regarding ergonomy, it’s quite easy to move. Of course, we need a  trolley and some help from a colleague, to bring vessels to the autoclave and to the cleaning zone.”

« The cleaning is simple too.

After noticing the vessel height, we said “the cleaning is going to be complicated…”. Finally, as the vessels are in 3 parts, it’s very simple to disassemble and clean. »

Have you encountered limits when using the CiYOU ?

« You have to be careful with the glass, adopt handling habits to avoid banging and breaking it. »

« During cultivation, we observed a lot of evaporation ».

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That’s true: with Airlift technology, depending of your strain, your culture and environmental conditions, the evaporation could be a limiting factor.

That’s why we have developped new optionscondenser & cooling options.

Contact us to find out more.
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The CiYOU is special for its user-friendly interface and handling.

What about you ? What do you prefer with the CiYOU ?

« The interface is very well designed. Once you use it a little bit, and after navigating between pages, it’s easy to find your way around. This is very visual, both the interface and the vessels. It’s easy to see  what’s going on in the culture through the glass, as the color, the Airlift movement…  »

«What I enjoyed the most was seeing microalgae in the vessels : look at the evolution over time and the coloration depending on the culture. I had my own routine with the CiYOU : quantify the biomass by absorbance measure, microscopic observation…”

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As a nutshell :

Would you recommend the CiYOU for research ? As educational equipment ? Why ?

« I recommend the CiYOU for both teaching and research.

I think it’s easy to explain how it works, easy to handle. It’s a good experience for students: they can manipulate it themselves and see visually what’s going on in the vessel, follow and monitor the culture and conditions. This is so visual. »

In research too, we can set up a routine. Few steps take time, as calibration part. Then, once you get it, it’s easy to planify.

Again, it is easy to use and it’s a good tool for smale-scale trials.”

A big thank you to Mathilde for the testimony, to Audrey for her support and all the team for their confidence.

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