A passive-oxygenation silicone platform for biomass production: enhancing operational labor and process simplicity in cellular agriculture development

The commercial production of cell-based food is currently hindered by existing bioreactor technologies, which require substantial capital investment, specialized operating skills, and complex processing setups. To democratize cell-based food production, we developed the “oxy-thru cultivator”—a simple, autoclavable, closed-bag bioreactor fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). By leveraging the high oxygen-permeability of PDMS, this platform enables passive oxygenation across the entire vessel wall, eliminating the need for external aeration or mechanical sparging. During testing, the cultivator maintained a stable culture environment over 23 days, showing no cytotoxic leachables and retaining both structural integrity and sterility across 10 autoclave cycles. This robustness supported the continuous cultivation of DF-1 cells for 74 days. Using a standardized subculture scheme, we successfully harvested an estimated 2.60 g of cell-based biomass per cultivator over five passages. Notably, the platform achieved a 127% monthly labor productivity compared to conventional bioreactors and was easily operated by researchers without specialized training. Additionally, the system successfully supported the expansion of both mammalian and primary avian cell lines. With a minimal equipment footprint that reduces CapEx, and a reusable silicone vessel that lowers OpEx, the oxy-thru cultivator offers a highly practical, accessible pathway toward scaling up cellular agriculture.