Bioprocess Engineering 2nd Edition by Fikret Kargi,Michael Shuler

Exercise 6

It has been claimed that gel immobilization stabilizes a plasmid-containing population. A fac-
tor suggested to be responsible for the stabilization is compartmentalization of the population
into very small pockets. For example, the pocket may start with an individual cell and grow
to a level of 200 cells per cavity. Develop a mathematical formula to compare the number of
plasmid-free cells in a gel to that in a large, well-mixed tank.