LEX Bioreactors

Accelerate protein production with a LEX bioreactor

Epiphyte3's LEX ("Large-scale EXpression") bioreactor technology was developed at the Structural Genomics Consortium as an efficient, high-throughput method for growing E. coli cultures for protein expression.

With the capacity to grow up to 40 x 1-litre cultures (or 24 x 2-litre cultures) in 46" of lab bench space, our LEX bioreactor products are ideal for research labs and core facilities that want to avoid cumbersome shaking incubators and flasks.

How it works

2L GL-45 Media Bottle

Standard Media Bottle

LEX uses industry-standard GL-45 threaded glass media bottles to grow your cultures.

1L GLS80 Sparger bubbling in sterile media

Combined Aeration & Mixing

LEX uses filtered, compressed air to provide aeration and mixing to each individual growth culture.

Circulator Front Panel

Temperature control

LEX culture bottles are immersed in a digital temperature controlled water bath.


Shaking incubators are a bottleneck. Free your lab with LEX.

  • Uses 50% less lab space than a comparable shaking incubator solution
  • Up to 50% less labor requirements through LEX-optimized workflow
  • LEX media bottles have a 75% smaller footprint compared to shake flasks
  • Growth media / experiment preparation is vastly simplified
  • Easy to maintain, autoclavable hardware
LEX-48 bioreactor
LEX-48 bioreactor

LEX Bucket during growth.

It's all about time.

LEX bioreactors are more affordable than shaking incubators, per liter of cell culture capability. Perhaps more surprising is the time savings that labs discover when they adopt a LEX bioreactor.

Here are just a few of the simple ways that LEX saves you time when compared to using flasks and shaking incubators:
  • Autoclave capacity is no longer an issue. You can fit up to 4 times as many LEX culture bottles into an autoclave as you can shake flasks.
  • Compact LEX culture bottles mean you don't need to make multiple trips with a lab cart.
  • LEX media bottles are sealed using screw caps, allowing you to prepare sterilized media in bulk, even months ahead of time.
  • LEX bioreactors use a threaded cap sparger technology. There's no need for unreliable foil/membrane covers.
  • Single level, bench-height access to all cultures means no more reaching between multiple stacked shaking incubators.
  • Access your cultures at any time - no need to wait for the shaking incubator to stop before you take a sample or add IPTG.

LEX-10 Our smallest package

Do you only require the capacity of a single floor mount shaking incubator? Then LEX-10 is for you.

  • Enjoy the same workflow advantages as our other LEX systems.
  • Grow the same volume to higher densities.
  • Use less lab space.
  • Competitively priced with shaking incubators.
LEX-10 bioreactor
LEX-10 bioreactor

LEX-24 bioreactor
LEX-24 bioreactor

LEX bioreactors. Sized for every lab.

Whether you're a large high-throughput core facility with existing shake flask infrastructure or a small lab just starting out, there's a LEX bioreactor system for you.

Available in three models - using either 2L or 1L bottles, you can grow from a single culture up to:
Model # of 2L
Cultures
# of 1L
Cultures
Online Quote
LEX-48 24 40 Quote LEX-48
LEX-24 12 20 Quote LEX-24
LEX-10 5 6 (9*) Quote LEX-10

* LEX-10 has an optional upgrade to 9 x one-liter culture capacity


Selected Publications

  1. Miethe S, Meyer T, Wöhl-Bruhn S, Frenzel A, Schirrmann T, Dübel S, Hust M. 2012. Production of single chain fragment variable (scFv) antibodies in Escherichia coli using the LEXTM bioreactor. J Biotechnology. 163(2): 105-111.
  2. Dufe VT, Qiu W, Müller IB, Hui R, Walter RD, Al-Karadaghi S. 2007. Crystal structure of Plasmodium falciparum spermidine synthase in complex with the substrate decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine and the potent inhibitors 4MCHA and AdoDATO. J Mol Biol. 12;373(1):167-77.
  3. Gräslund S, Sagemark J, Berglund H, Dahlgren LG, Flores A, Hammarström M, Johansson I, Kotenyova T, Nilsson M, Nordlund P, et al. 2007. The use of systematic N- and C-terminal deletions to promote production and structural studies of recombinant proteins. Protein Expr Purif. 58(2):210-21
  4. Schütz P, Wahlberg E, Karlberg T, Hammarström M, Collins R, Flores A, Schüler H. 2010. Crystal Structure of Human RNA Helicase A (DHX9): Structural Basis for Unselective Nucleotide Base Binding in a DEAD-Box Variant Protein. J Mol Biol. 23;400(4):768-82.
  5. Adams MA, Luo Y, Hove-Jensen B, He SM, van Staalduinen LM, Zechel DL, Jia Z. 2008. Crystal structure of PhnH: an essential component of carbon-phosphorus lyase in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 190(3):1072-83.