Algae are a versatile and attractive biomanufacturing platform. They grow rapidly on a variety of different feedstocks including sunlight and carbon dioxide, sugars, and waste material.
Think of the algae that grows so easily in wastewater, lakes, and aquariums, or the big algae blooms that cover vast stretches of ocean. These qualities of rapid, scaleable, and flexible growth with minimal requirements give algae a major advantage in terms of cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing.
Importantly, in spite of their simplicity and fast growth rates, algae still possess most of the advanced biosynthetic capabilities of more complex plants and organisms. So, it is possible to produce complex molecules, such as vaccines and antibodies, in algae. This is a major advantage of algae over other fast-growing microorganisms such as bacteria.
At the same time, algae don’t have unnecessary ‘infrastructure overhead’, like big stems and roots.
So, essentially the entire algae organism is used to make product, and there is minimal leftover waste material. In other words, algae are very efficient little green factories!
Lastly, algae are safe. Unlike bacteria and even some mammalian cell systems, we use algae that don’t make toxins or carry viruses that may be harmful to people and animals. Sounds like the perfect biomanufacturing system, doesn’t it? We think so.