For several thousand years, biotechnology and its associated technical processes have had a great impact on the development of mankind. Based on empirical methods, in particular for the production of foodstuffs and daily commodities, these disciplines have become one of the most innovative future issues. Due to the increasing detailed understanding of cellular processes, production strains can now be optimized. In combination with modern bioprocesses, a variety of bulk and fine chemicals as well as pharmaceuticals can be produced efficiently. In this article, some of the current trends in biotechnology are discussed.

Biotechnological downstream processing is usually an elaborate procedure, requiring a multitude of unit operations to isolate the target component. Besides the disadvantageous space‐time yield, the risks of cross‐contaminations and product loss grow fast with the complexity of the isolation procedure. A significant reduction of unit operations can be achieved by application of magnetic particles, especially if these are functionalized with affinity ligands. As magnetic susceptible materials are highly uncommon in biotechnological processes, target binding and selective separation of such particles from fermentation or reactions broths can be done in a single step. Since the magnetizable particles can be produced from iron salts and low priced polymers, a single‐use implementation of these systems is highly conceivable. In this article, the principles of magnetizable particles, their synthesis and functionalization are explained. Furthermore, applications in the area of reaction engineering, microfluidics and downstream processing are discussed focusing on established single‐use technologies and development potential.

Biotechnologie und die mit ihr verbundenen technischen Prozesse prägen seit Jahrtausenden die Entwicklung der Menschheit. Ausgehend von empirischen Verfahren, insbesondere zur Herstellung von Lebensmitteln und täglichen Gebrauchsgütern, haben sich diese Disziplinen zu einem der innovativsten Zukunftsfelder entwickelt. Durch das immer detailliertere Verständnis zellulärer Vorgänge können mittlerweile Produktionsstämme gezielt optimiert werden. Im Zusammenspiel mit moderner Prozesstechnik können so eine Vielzahl von Bulk‐ und Feinchemikalien sowie Pharmazeutika effizient hergestellt werden. In diesem Artikel werden exemplarisch einige der aktuellen Trends vorgestellt.