ExxonMobil, Synthetic Genomics Announce Algae-oil Breakthrough
ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics have announced that they have achieved a breakthrough where it is possible to maximize lipid content and also increase the growth of algae under nutrient deprived conditions.
Nannochloropsis gaditana is used industrially for the production of oil. It is possible to increase the lipid content of the microalgae by starving it of nutrients but this deprivation slows its growth, thereby slowing production.
To overcome this problem, scientists at Synthetic Genomics refined 20 genes that controlled for lipid production during nitrogen starvation. The mutant replacements increased the production of carbon to lipids from 20 percent to as much as 55 percent during the nitrogen deprivation.