Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were cultivated in a compact loop bioreactor using MEM-alpha medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. Effects of physical and chemical environments, i.e., pH in the medium, stirring speed of impellers, temperature and partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) upon growth of suspended cells in the bioreactor were determined in batch cultures. Growth behavior was characterized by specific rates of growth (mu), glucose consumption (qG) and lactate production (qL), and the yield coefficients (cell yield from glucose, YX/G, and lactate yield from glucose, YL/G). An effect of medium osmolality was also evaluated with T-flask monolayer cultivation. The best growth was observed at pH 7.6, 37 degrees C, 400 rpm, 50-100% saturation with oxygen and 320 mOsmol kg-1. Corresponding to the previous work with a human melanoma cell line, the sophisticated cultivation and process control systems have been improved for CHO cells.