Continuous culture apparatus with mobile vessel, allowing selection of fitter cell variants and producing a culture in a continuous manner

A method for growing cells that are not in suspension, comprising:

• a) providing flexible tubing containing culture medium, and a surface on which living cells can grow in said tubing, the surface being at least one of (i) the inner surface of the tubing, the diameter of the tubing being small so that the living cells may adhere in a natural manner or (ii) a continuous fiber inserted inside the tubing, and a system of gates achieved by clamps, each of the gates being capable of open and closed positions, the gates being positioned so as to be able to divide the tubing into:
• i) an upstream region containing unused culture medium and a portion of the surface which is unused on which the living cells can grow;
• ii) a downstream region containing spent culture medium;
• and
• iii) a growth chamber region for growing said cells on the surface, the growth chamber region being disposed between the upstream and downstream regions;
• and
• b) closing selected ones of the gates on the tubing to define the growth chamber region of the tubing between the upstream and downstream regions of the tubing, and introducing viable cells into the growth chamber region;
• c) cyclically closing and opening selected ones of the gates to redefine the growth chamber region of the tubing so that a first portion of the previously defined growth chamber region becomes a portion of the downstream region of the tubing, and a portion of the previously defined upstream region of the tubing becomes a portion of the growth chamber region of the tubing and provides the surface for further growth of the living cells;
• and
• d) repeating step c) until a desired amount of said living cells have grown;
• wherein the growth chamber region is subjected to a pre-determined growth condition, and the repetition of step c) selects for those of the living cells that demonstrate an improved rate of reproduction responsive to said growth condition;
• wherein the tubing including the medium, the surface and culture inside the tubing move through a simultaneous movement of the system of gates to cyclically redefine the growth chamber region of the tubing;
• and
• wherein the living cells are cells that do not grow in suspension.