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Recent advances in microbiological and molecular biology and a deep understanding of genetic transformations in microorganisms have spurred a great diversity of applications in the field of biotechnologies. However, the industrial development of bioprocesses is frequently curtailed by difficulties during the extraction and purification of products. Indeed, the product of interest to be obtained by bioprocesses is often highly diluted in a complex milieu (producing organism, nutrient medium, etc.) In some cases, it is endogenous and its extraction requires a lysis step (destruction of cells to free intracellular constituents and substances), which increases further the complexity of the process. This environment complicates the use of conventional extraction and purification techniques (liquid extraction, centrifugation, chromatography, etc.), either for reasons of efficiency or for economic constraints. In this context, the process of separating compounds by membrane filtration stands as an alternative of choice for the resolution of many problems pertaining to extraction and purification operations.
