Genetically engineered bacteria (used to produce insulin) are immobilized in a solid agar disc (cylinder with flat surface facing up - 100 cm diameter, 5 cm height), which is exposed to large volume of stirred liquid media on both of the flat surfaces of the disc (not the curved surface). Glucose added to the media (in excess) is required for insulin production from the bacteria, which only occurs when the glucose concentration in the disc reaches 0.05 mM.
A) How much time is required for bacteria at the center of the solid agar disc to have enough glucose to begin producing insulin? After a time, the insulin production from bacteria reaches steady state. You may assume that the agar disc contains 10 million spherical bacterial cells, each 1 micrometer in diameter, and a zero order rate of insulin production at the bacterial cell surface with ko = 0.0001 mol/cm2 s.
B) Determine the rate of insulin production from the gel in moles per hour.