Final Prototype

The bioreactor is controlled by the Chi.Bio system, which is connected to pumps and an OD sensor. The bioreactor uses a four-pump system, two for replacing old media with fresh media, and two for pumping small amounts of media to and from the OD sensor.  The OD sensor is used to measure the bacterial density in the bioreactor, since we want to maintain a certain bacterial density to maximize horizontal gene transfer of the bacteria in the bioreactor. Our prototype also has a mesh basket (not pictured) in the bioreactor which holds the agar beads, which provide additional nutrients to the system, and are manually replaced by lifting the basket. Future versions of the bioreactor will incorporate an automatic replacement method for the agar beads.