Mixed-Reality Fermentation Simulator Preps Workforce

Hands-on biomanufacturing training is expensive, regardless of whether that training occurs in manufacturing facilities where training may take production units offline, or in community colleges and universities where the availability of equipment and consumables may limit training time.

A mixed-reality fermentation training platform dubbed BioSuite Virtual solves much of that challenge.

Developed by Prism Immersive with funding from BioMADE and expertise from an industry consortium, BioSuite Virtual immerses learners in a world in which they interact with a virtual bioreactor in their physical space. Conversely, the perhaps more familiar augmented reality lets learners interact with physical objects with virtual overlays.

BioSuite Virtual consists of more than 40 different modules across 12 chapters, starting with a short introduction to the biomanufacturing space, followed by content-specific modules.

“It’s end-to-end fermentation training,” Jared DeCoste, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Prism Immersive, tells GEN. “Learners gain vital skills along the way as they assemble a bioreactor, sterilize it, inoculate it, add the media, set the controls, and perform a run. They monitor the run by taking samples and observing the fermentation conditions, making necessary adjustments throughout.” As a learner, “you can do things multiple times if you need to. You can start and stop. You can go at your own pace, all the way through the run.”

Shaped by fermentation SMEs

Training is based on best practices from industry subject matter experts—especially Amyris, which shared its processing best practices and expertise with Prism early on—and partners at Bioscience Core Skills Institute (BCSI), Northeastern University, and Harford Community College who shaped and piloted the software. Prism made these connections with the support of BioMADE’s member network.

This lets all users learn from what Dan Beaupré, COO and co-founder of Prism, calls “the best of the best” in precision fermentation. “BioSuite Virtual is informed by dozens of subject matter experts [from industry],” he stresses.

“BioSuite Virtual isn’t meant to completely supplant in-person training,” Beaupré adds. “It’s a precursor, where users can obtain literacy and develop operational familiarity with precision fermentation workflows before they touch real equipment.” Because they have this foundation, trainers can then focus on teaching more complex processes and scenarios.

Prism’s first clients, community colleges, began using the virtual training tool this spring, and “about a dozen others” from Massachusetts to Hawaii are licensing it for use in the next academic year. DeCoste reports interest from contract development and manufacturing organizations and biopharma companies, too. “One of the great things about software is that you can modify it for the exact procedures utilized within [a specific] environment.”

Going forward, Prism Immersive plans to create new modules in such areas as biosafety cabinet operations and aseptic training, “because that’s what industry is calling for,” Beaupré says.

“All sorts of things are possible in XR [mixed, augmented, or virtual reality], as long as they’re well-designed,” Beaupré emphasizes. “Everything we do is intentional,” and knowledge checks are built in to reinforce and validate learning. After successfully completing the course, learners have the option to be credentialed through BCSI.

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