Samueli School of Engineering

Diabetes has become more prevalent over the years and the need for insulin has increased along with it. Because insulin is a protein, it requires host organisms such as E.coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce it. Furthermore, it is imperative to perfect the conditions set for cells to thrive and produce the highest titers for things like insulin production. With these experiments, it was hypothesized that cells will grow at a slower rate as temperatures stray away from the optimal temperature of 37 C. This is due to the fact that E.coli exists naturally at body temperature in the intestines of both humans and animals. Additionally, it was hypothesized that aerobic conditions will demonstrate better growth rates since it is able to extract more energy from their environment. Although these hypotheses are widely supported by the scientific community, the data obtained from these experiments were not in agreement. This could have been due to many things such as inconsistent independent variables, poor sterile technique, and an incomplete understanding of the entire lifetime of the E.coli strain used. Additionally, the total diabetic population in Irvine, CA, was estimated using published statistics of the population. By utilizing the 37 C aerobic data obtained, an array of eight batch reactors, running four times a day, was designed to meet the insulin demand in this city.