An expert in algae research and genetic engineering who heads the BGU’s Landau Family Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory, disclosed that large-scale algae production is not without its challenges:

Some of the major problems associated with are biological—including oxygen control and strain stability. Algae adapt to conditions, and producers need to make sure that the algae remain the same strain as when they started. Culture contaminants can be serious problems and a parasite infestation can close production.

“The message I want to convey to you is that this is a tough business, and if you don’t know what you are doing, you’ll be out in a few years…If you are working with little reactors, you are playing games, you are not in the real world. When you go to reality, it is much more complicated,” Boussiba said at the conference.