Separating and purifying the desired product is an important part of any bio-project. This processing `downstream from the fermenter is both difficult and expensive. This book introduces all the common techniques, starting in the lab and ending in the plant. We have written it for undergraduates in process engineering (biotechnological, mechanical or chemical) and graduate microbiologists doing a minor on the technology that is required to scale up their experiments to a commercial scale.The exciting part of biotechnology is thought to be `bio. That is the placefor novel ideas, funding, research, patents However `technology comesbehind that - without technology, no idea will make it to the market. Animportant part of technology is downstream processing: the separationand purification of the bio-product. This is usually the most expen-sivepart of a bio-project, and it can require much ingenuity and a huge effort todevelop a process that is clean and economic.The development of a downstream process starts in the lab, but ends with aplant. The plant may have to produce a million times the amounts made inthe lab. The challenge is to end with a good plant. To do this two groups ofpeople have to work together. These are the lab people micro-biologists,biochemists and the process engineers. We have tried to write a bookthat introduces the subject to both of you. In eleven lessons it describes allthe common steps used in downstream processing, starting in the lab andending in the plant. The idea is a course of perhaps one or two weeks,depending on your starting knowledge.