Abstract
Dear Colleagues:
Products derived from microalgae and macroalgae impact humans worldwide from infancy on, daily, and in many different ways. Algae cultivation is also an important contributor to the steady growth toward a clean and green future, which is more important now than ever before. This issue of Industrial Biotechnology features an IB IN DEPTH special section focusing on current and future microalgal products and the crucial regulatory issues that will affect their use and how they are manufactured. The issue includes two excellent overviews contributed by Matt Carr, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization, and Dr. Michael Walsh of the US Center for Integration of Science & Industry, entitled “Algal Biotechnology is Just Beginning to Blossom” and “Product-Focused Innovation and Value Creation are Needed to Drive Commodity-Scale Algae Production,” respectively.
One critical challenge we continue to face is that of global food security. This issue increasingly brings together algal scientists and policy makers to address how we can meet nutritional and health needs while protecting diminishing global resources and the environment. In the article entitled “Cutting Out the Middle Fish: Marine Microalgae as the Next Sustainable Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Protein Source,” the international team of Dr. William Moowaw and colleagues offers a perspective that emphasizes the use of high quality marine microalgal protein and lipids in animal and fish feed and for human consumption. The authors spotlight reducing over-fishing practices and limiting the heavy toll of wasteful freshwater consumption from certain agricultural practices. They analyze the environmental and nutritional impact for one type of fish and different types of livestock that are farmed, and how regulatory issues could benefit rapid adoption of sustainable algae-based food and feed ingredients.
In the realm of personal care products, the successful use of microalgae, specifically in dietary supplements for skin care and general physiological health, continues on an upward trajectory. The interview in this issue of IB with Dr. Gerry Cysewski, an early pioneer in microalgae and co-founder of Cyanotech (Kona, Hawaii), and the review article on the benefits of Spirulina by Dr. Jorge Costa and a team of researchers from Brazil and Italy (“The Potential of Spirulina and its Bioactive Metabolites as Ingested Agents for Skin Care”), offer fascinating insights into these algal applications.
Food, nutritional, and personal care applications of microalgal ingredients must meet certain regulatory stipulations, regardless if they are natural products or the result of bioengineering. Perhaps less recognized is the importance of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which regulates chemical substances—and the feedstock used to produce them—when used in products other than food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and pesticides. Lynn Bergeson and coauthors from Bergeson & Campbell, PC (Washington, DC) examine the complex regulatory domain and discuss the significance and implications of TSCA for industrialized algae in the excellent report “ TSCA Affects on Algae, Other Novel Biosources, and Bioprocesses.”
Strategies for producing algal biomass continue to evolve. Dr. Tracy Ghidossi and colleagues from Switzerland and Ireland, present an aerobic fermentation strategy that has exceptionally high productivity, documented for the first time using a microalgal species recognized for producing multiple derivative products in the article “Characterization and Optimization of a Fermentation Process for the Production of High Cell Densities and Lipids Using Heterotrophic Cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides” Industrial Biotechnology continues to follow the ongoing effort to develop and implement a biorefinery approach in the industrial sector to recover energy (in the form of lipid-rich algal biomass) and reclaim/valorize on-site waste streams. An understanding of the potential for algal production using aluminum smelter wastewater is described for the first time by Bourdeau et al. from Canada, in the article “Mixotrophic Cultivation of an Algae-Bacteria Consortium in Aluminium Smelter Wastewaters (Quebec, Canada): High Nitrogen Concentration Increases Overall Lipid Production.”
The selection of highly productive algal species for biorefineries that have the capability to perform autotrophically, mixotrophically and heterotrophically makes it possible to change the compositional profile of the biomass depending on market drivers, for example, as described by Lane et al. in their article “Composition and Potential Products from Auxenochlorella protothecoides, Chlorella sorokiniana and Chlorella vulgaris.” While 6-carbon sugars are still a common carbon feedstock, these biorefinery and other fermentation species are capable of metabolizing multiple organic carbon sources as well as cellulosic derivatives. The path to commercialization can reasonably include addressing sustainability issues head-on through judicious selection of feedstock and bioprocesses.
Continued financial support and guidance for developing algae-based renewable chemicals, food, nutritional supplements, feed, personal care ingredients, water services, and yes, even bioenergy, comes from the public sector, such as from the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture, but also from several valued trade organizations. This issue of Industrial Biotechnology is timed for print release at the annual summit of the Algae Biomass Organization, taking place this year in Salt Lake City, Utah. Declining petroleum prices in the recent past have clearly impacted algae-based businesses focused on biofuels, resulting in their shuttering or re-focusing, and manifested by the changing sponsorship of conferences such as the ABO Summit. At present, the main drivers for the increased demand for algal-derived products and algae-based solutions for water treatment and effluent utilization are commercial markets and a shift in attitude from consumers. In the face of dwindling global resources, the progressive industrialization of algae offers the pleasurable prospect of innovative algal products and sustainable, safe solutions that make for a very exciting time in the algae world!