Will genetically engineered algae provide the basis for fuel and food in the future? Image source: Shutterstock (#460259383)
A team at University of California, San Diego, in cooperation with renewable energy company Sapphire Energy, has developed genetically engineered algae which were successfully tested to be cultivated outdoors without harming other algae populations. “It’s sustainable because we can grow algae on non-arable land using non-potable or even salt water. Algae are also more productive than crop plants so we can produce protein, which the world really needs, in a more efficient way, and stop cutting down our rain forest to grow soybeans,” Stephen Mayfield at UCSD says.
The algae, when domesticated, could be used for anything from animal feed and human food to renewable fuels.
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