Algal biotechnology: facts, fiction and future prospects

Algal biotechnology: facts, fiction and future prospects
John G Day
Project supported by the INTERREG IVA
Programme managed by SEUPB
Coordination Centre:
Scottish Association for Marine
Science, Oban, Scotland
T: +44 (0)1631 559000
F: +44 (0)1631 559001
E: [email protected]
W: www.biomara.org
Why bother with Algae?
• Algae are debatably the most diverse
group of organisms on earth
Why bother with Algae?
• Algae are responsible for the oxygen in
every second breath you take
• They form the basis of the food chain
for approx 70% of the worlds biomass
• Without algae the world dies!
If algae are such a big deal, how come we never hear about them?
Algal exploitation: Historical perspective
Seaweed being harvested in 19th century for use as a fertiliser
.
Kelp Burning: a biotechnology process from the 18th & 19th centuries to produce soda, potash & iodine
Phyco‐colloids
Agar
7,500 tonnes of agar with a wholesale value of US$250 million. Alginates
>$120M excluding China
Carrageenan
> 50,000 tonnes in 2007/8 with a value of over US$600 million (excluding China) Alginate: A Natural Chemical
with Diverse Uses
• Alginates are jelly‐like carbohydrates used for water retention, gelling, emulsifying and stabilising.
• Used in food, drink, cosmetics, medical and chemical industries
• Currently there are some 250 applications
ISP Alginates Plant, Girvan
Girvan one of the world’s largest alginate plant
Nori a $1 billion Industry
More than 20 species
are used in everyday
cookery in Japan, six
of them since the 8th
century.
Seaweed accounts for
some 10% of the
Japanese diet
Most important food
species in Japan are
Nori (Porphyra
species), Kombu
(Laminaria species),
and Wakame
(Undaria pinnatifida)
Seaweed
Products
What about Microalgae?
Historical use of algae:
Food-supplement in central Africa & Central
America
Spirullina /Arthrospira
Aquaculture a multibillion $ Industry
•Chaetoceros calcitrans •Isochrysis sp. (Tahitian) •Nannochloris atomus
•Pavlova lutheri CCAP •Rhinomonas reticulata var. reticulata
•Skeletonema costatum
•Tetraselmis chui
Thalassiosira pseudonana
Current uses of microalgae
“Witchcraft”
Dietary supplements
Health foods
Neutraceuticals
Pigments & specialist chemicals
Microalgae & cyanobacteria
COMMERCIALLY exploited and grown at large scale
Chlorella spp
Aphanizomenon flos aquae
Arthrospira/ Spirullina spp
Dunaliella salina
Haematococcus pluvialis
Cryptothecodinium cohenii
Production systems: Open
Production systems: closed
Future Prospects – Industrial needs
•
Pharmaceutical
• New bio‐active molecules with novel modes of action / chemical structure (new chemical scaffolds).
• Need for new drugs (emerging diseases / drug resistance)
•
Nutraceuticals
• Functional foods (Fatty acids ‐ micro algae) – heart health, obesity control, immuno health.
• Probiotics (animal and human)
• Anti‐oxidants
•
Industrial
• Biofuels
• New sources of enzymes – biotransformation of chemicals
• .New Cosmetics (cosmoceuticals) Future product areas
• Biofuels
• Foods
• Bioactives/ Pharmaceuticals
• Novel enzymes
• Specialist chemicals
• Green fertilizers
• Green insecticides • Bioremediation
Bioactives: pharmaceuticals
•They are, as yet, a largely unexploited biotechnological
“treasure store”
Constraints
Technological constraints
• Production systems engineering problems
• Downstream processing/ product
extraction/purification/formulation
• Production strain productivity
• Production strain stability
Can you protect your IP?
• Yes… Can you afford to defend challenges to
your patents?
• No… Can you protect your know-how by
some other method?
Do not forget the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) & the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)!
• Are you a BioPirate?
Future prospects
Algal production- parallels
with penicillin production:
March 14, 1942 the first
patient was treated for
streptococcal septicaemia
with U.S.-made penicillin
used half of the total
supply produced.
By Spring of 1944 the USA
to produce 2.3 million
doses in time for the
invasion of Normandy.
$1000/Kg
$100/Kg
$10/Kg
$1/Kg
c/Kg
Reality check:
Market driven or technology driven?
Production economics…
Investment…
Conclusions:
There must be a market need.
Production must be reliable AND COST EFFECTIVE.
The technology must be robust and reliable.
Ideally the technology should be a platform for a suite of products.
The technology should be protectable.
Get it right and……. $