A biostat is a culture vessel that maintains constant physical, physicochemical, and physiological conditions for the culture. It is specifically used to maintain a stable environment for microorganisms or cells in continuous culture systems, allowing for prolonged and controlled growth.
(1) Biostat:
- The biostat is commonly used in industrial fermentation processes or research laboratories where conditions such as temperature, pH, and nutrient levels need to be precisely controlled.
- It allows for the regulation of cell concentration and ensures that the cells are provided with a continuous supply of fresh nutrients.
(2) Why Other Options Are Incorrect:
- Cell concentrator (Option 1) is a device used to concentrate cells, but it is not designed to maintain continuous, controlled growth conditions like a biostat.
- Batch bioreactor (Option 3) refers to a closed system where the culture is grown in a fixed amount of medium, and conditions are not necessarily kept constant.
- Incubator (Option 4) is used to maintain a stable temperature for growing cells, but it does not regulate all the conditions needed in the culture system like a biostat does.
Conclusion:
A biostat is a culture vessel that ensures constant conditions for physical, physicochemical, and physiological parameters, including maintaining cell concentration.