Protein Expression
Protein expression is conducted in our Newark production facility. The facility is highly automated and can produce protein-containing larvae at scales ranging from tens of grams through hundreds of kilograms, all under carefully controlled conditions. The facility is divided into three areas, colony, uninfected larvae and infected larvae, with extensive safeguards to protect each area. We have maintained continuous operation without a delay due to a production failure since we commissioned our expression facility in the fall of 2001.
The production system takes advantage of the natural life cycle of insects, converting larvae into living bioreactors. The process has four stages:
Eggs
Cabbage looper eggs are the basic raw material for the production process. We maintain an insect colony at the Newark facility and have quick access to fully redundant colonies off-site. We have never had a production delay because of a lack of eggs.
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T. ni eggs and adult
Larvae
Insect diet is dispensed into individual growth chambers. After cooling, eggs are deposited on the surface of the diet and then the chambers are sealed and transferred to an incubator for hatching.
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| POV Preparation and Inoculation A small number of insect larvae are hand-injected with recombinant baculovirus prepared and amplified in culture. This preliminary step is used to select optimal recombinants for further development, and to generate the proprietary POV inoculum for mass oral infection of production quantities of insect larvae. Production larvae that have reached the fifth instar of development are transferred from the uninfected area of the facility to the infected area and inoculated orally by application of POV to the surface of the diet. Infected larvae are then placed in incubators within the infected area for protein expression. |
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| Harvesting Larvae are harvested approximately 96 hours after inoculation. Harvesting consists of opening the individual incubation chambers and separating larvae from plastic, uneaten diet and frass, all of which is automated. Harvested larvae are frozen until needed for processing. |
