Algae: The Next Green Revolution

It’s no secret that human activities can be detrimental to planetary health and biodiversity; agriculture, manufacturing, and the simple acts of daily life use up natural resources, burn fossil fuels, and pollute water systems. Now, researchers study how algae, a diverse group of ancient unicellular organisms, might provide new approaches for sustainable living.

A circular diagram with different types of algae in the center and four different labels in a ring around the circle, which read: food production, crop improvement, water treatment, and other products. In the outer ring, there are images of oil droplets, meat, an ammonia molecule, a chloroplast, a water tower, a plant being fertilized, a cosmetics bottle, and a pair of flip flops.

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1) Food production

Algae could provide proteins for alternative meat and lipids for cooking oils and omega-3 fatty acids.

2) Crop improvement

Special abilities possessed by certain algae species, like nitrogen fixation and enhanced photosynthesis efficiency, could be engineered into staple crop plants.

3) Water treatment

Algae could reduce nutrient pollution in wastewater at the same time as recovering minerals like phosphorus, which could be reused as a component of fertilizer.

4) Other products

Algae could produce more sustainable versions of organic compounds, such as squalene, that are currently harvested from the marine environment, or make ingredients for biodegradable plastics.

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References

Espinosa-Ramírez J et al. Algae as a potential source of protein meat alternatives. Front Nutr. 2023;10.
Adarme-Vega TC et al. Towards sustainable sources for omega-3 fatty acids production. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2014;26:14-18.
Moulin SLY et al. The endosymbiont of Epithemia clementina is specialized for nitrogen fixation within a photosynthetic eukaryote. bioRxiv. Published online April 4, 2023:2023.03.08.531752.
Burlacot A et al. Alternative photosynthesis pathways drive the algal CO2-concentrating mechanism. Nature. 2022;605(7909):366-371.
Henkanatte-Gedera SM et al. Removal of dissolved organic carbon and nutrients from urban wastewaters by Galdieria sulphuraria: Laboratory to field scale demonstration. Algal Res. 2017;24:450-456.
Schaedig E et al. Isolation of phosphorus-hyperaccumulating microalgae from revolving algal biofilm (RAB) wastewater treatment systems. Front Microbiol. 2023;14.
Yarkent Ç, Oncel SS. Recent Progress in Microalgal Squalene Production and Its Cosmetic Application. Biotechnol Bioprocess Eng. 2022;27(3):295-305.
Gunawan NR et al. Rapid biodegradation of renewable polyurethane foams with identification of associated microorganisms and decomposition products. Bioresour Technol Rep. 2020;11:100513.

Meet the Author

Hannah Thomasy, PhD

Hannah is an Assistant Editor at The Scientist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and Undark. She earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Washington where she studied traumatic brain injury and sleep. She completed the Dalla Lana Fellowship in Global Journalism in 2020. Outside of work, she enjoys running and aspires to be a participant on The Great Canadian Baking Show.

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