The authors explain that the urge for food security and sustainability has propelled the field of microalgal biotechnology. These microorganisms can grow using light, fertilizers, sugars, CO2, and seawater, providing significant potential as a feedstock for food, feed, energy, and chemicals.
The researchers point out that microalgae grow faster and have higher areal productivity than traditional plant crops without competing for agricultural land, while also achieving 100% efficiency in fertilizer uptake.
According to the study, microalgae show higher land-use efficiency compared to bacterial, fungal, and yeast single-cell protein production. The authors provide insights into the potential of microalgae to replace commodities such as soy protein, fish oil, and palm oil.
Additionally, the researchers highlight the role of microalgae as cell factories in modern industrial biotechnology for producing designer feed, recombinant proteins, biopharmaceuticals, and vaccines.
Learn more about this study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.12.017
Reference:
Barbosa, M. J., Janssen, M., Südfeld, C., D’Adamo, S., & Wijffels, R. H. (2023). Hypes, hopes, and the way forward for microalgal biotechnology. Trends in Biotechnology, 41(3), 452–471.