Animal cell technology has undergone a transformation between 1986 and 1996, from a research tool and highly specialized technology to a central resource for innovation in pharmaceutical research and development. These papers bring up to date the historical perspective of animal cell technology for the benefit of society, and aims to charter this technology for the years to come. Strong contributions are grouped in the traditional ESACT areas of cell and physiology engineering dealing with cell state, including genetics, and its environment, and animal cell process engineering covering integration of bioreaction with bioseparation coupled with on-line monitoring to improve protein production and consistency. Extensive coverage of metabolic engineering on synthesis, folding, assembly, transiting and secretion is dealt with in the session on recombinant proteins: biosynthesis and bioprocessing. Two traditional but expanding areas of animal cell technology are highlighted in the broad sessions of animal cells as tools for discovery and testing and animal cell vaccines: present and future.
Two final sessions cover the more recent domains of animal cell technology work - tissue engineering and biomedical devices and cells and vectors for genetic medicine.