Fermentation is the term used to describe any process for the production of a product by means of the culture of microorganisms or cells. Fermentation is often thought of as the first step in many biotechnology processes. Organic biological molecules, microbes, therapeutics, enzymes, antibiotics and vaccines are all produced using fermentation. Fermentation covers a wide range of subjects from the biological point of view, such as care & maintenance of bacterial strains, conditions affecting the growth of bacteria, modelling of bacterial growth pattern. It also tackles the hardware angle, including the design & construction of a fermenter & the use of probes to measure the state of a culture. Although the main emphasis is on organisms, McNeil and Harvey also describe fermentation in animal cells - a nice touch. Contract fermentation & cell culture services offers custom fermentation services for the production of microbial cells & their products in volumes up to 375 liters under BSL2 containment. Tissue culture facilities are also available for the production of various animal cells, such as HeLa S3's and 293 cells for adenovirus propogation.