Bioprocess engineering has played a key role in biotechnology, contributing towards bringing the exciting new discoveries of molecular and cellular biology into the applied sphere, and in maintaining established processes, some centuries-old, efficient and essential for today's industry. Novel developments and new application areas of biotechnology, along with increasing constraints in costs, product quality, regulatory and environmental considerations, have placed the biochemical engineer at the forefront of new challenges. This second volume of Advances in Bioprocess Engineering reflects precisely the multidisciplinary nature of the field, where new and traditional areas of application are nurtured by a better understanding of fundamental phenomena and by the utilization of novel techniques and methodologies. The chapters in this book were written by the invited speakers to the 2nd International Symposium on Bioprocess Engineering, Mazatlan, Mexico, September 1997.