Microalgae oil as a replacement for palm oil

Whether you know it or not, you have probably used many liters of palm oil over your lifetime. The stuff is in everything including food, cosmetics, soaps and even candles.

There is large destruction of the environment incurred in the production of palm oil including large scale deforestation and loss of habitat for many species like orangutans and the Sumatran tiger. The equivalent of 300 football fields are being destroyed every hour to make space for palm oil production.

Microalgae can be modified to produce  C₁₀ and C₁₂ fatty acids found in palm oil. As they have much less demands for arable land and a considerably less environmental impact compared to palm trees. Microalgae could provide a solution to  sustainable palm oil production to meet global demand.

Oil yields of various plants compared to microalgae (Gallons of oil per acre per year)

Corn	18
Soybeans	48
Safflower	83
Sunflower	102
Rapeseed	127
Oil Palm	635
Micro Algae	5000-15000

See more at: http://www.oilgae.com/algae/oil/yield/yield.html#sthash.J72jS924.dpuf

Companies such as Ecoever, a laundry detergent manufacturer have already begun making the switch to microalgae derived synthetic palm oil. Unilever, a consumer products giant has agreed to buy huge amounts of oil derived from microalgae from Solazyme. The oil will be used in its range of personal care products including Dove and Brylcreem.

 

 

Diatoms, a type of microalgae.

Genetic modification of microalgae

 

Genetic engineering of microalgae to produce many viable high value products.

Genetic modification is the process by which altercations in the genes of an organism ultimately lead to changes in its physical characteristics. Genes are what makes us who we are and what makes us different from other people. All living organisms have genes. Genes come in the form of a long string like molecule called DNA and changes in  genes  called mutations manifest as physical changes in the organisms.

Changes in genes happen all the time. DNA  is a relatively fragile molecule that is protected by the nucleus in almost every cell in the body. DNA is damaged and changed by many things including excess sunlight and smoking. It is these changes in DNA that manifest as hereditary diseases and sometimes cancer  . It is also these changes in genes that give organisms strategic advantages over competitors and allows for evolution to occur.

Genetic modification is therefore, a worthy subject of scientific study. We have been genetically modifying organisms through selective breeding and other agricultural techniques for thousands of years. More recently however, since the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, there have been numerous advances in our understanding of DNA and how it is expressed in organisms. This has paved way for the development of technologies that can engineer the genomes of organisms for the production of many high value useful products.

Microalgae offer attractive potential for genetic modification to produce many high value products such as biofuels and new drugs. They grow very quickly and are safe to handle. Genetic modification of microalgae will aim to do one many things such as improving the efficiency at which microalgae convert sunlight and nutrients into energy. This will allow for the more efficient production of microalgal products.

Genetic engineering of microalgae also offer the prospect of pharming. Pharming is when genes which code for molecules of interest such as drugs and vaccines are inserted into the genome of an organism like microalgae. The microalgae will express the genes inserted and basically offer a cheap and efficient way of mass producing the said molecule. Pharming of microalgae could provide a cheap and sustainable way to mass produce drugs like insulin and many vaccines.

The ebola therapeutic ZMapp was developed using such methods. The genes coding for the protein were inserted into the chloroplast (light harvesting organ) of the tobacco plant. The plant expressed the genes and facilitated additional modifications that produced a fully functional therapeutic molecule against the Ebola virus. In theory then, microalgae also have chloroplast and perhaps they can be used to mass produce similar drugs. The added advantages of using microalgae instead of plants is that they can grow rapidly and be eaten directly by humans. They are quite nutritious in fact. Could microalgae offer the solution to deliver cheap and safe drugs that can be distributed easily around developing countries to combat epidemics?

Genetically engineered Dunaliella salina  are being investigated as a way to orally vaccinate against hepatitis B. The New Ohio Sea Grant is currently investigating using genetically modified Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a means of vaccinating trout from hematopoietic necrosis virus  which kills 30% of the US trout population every year. Mosquito larvae feed on the microalgae, Chlorella so it provides a potential target in the global fight against malaria. Chlorella was engineered to produce the protein trypsin-modulating oostatic factor (TMOF) which interferes with the life cycle of the mosquito larvae. All larvae that fed on the microalgae died within 72 hours.