Microalgae Biotechnology- Growth Factors

Growth factors in serum are extremely expensive due to their batch to batch variability and market availability. Fetal Bovine Serum is commonly used to grow mammalian cells and maintain optimal environments, but their prices can range from 159 dollars for just 50 ml! This represents a significant hurdle in cultivated meat production and regenerative medicine treatments. In this article we discuss ways that microalgae may decrease the cost of cell culture.

Microalgae are different than other typical expression systems. Unlike yeast, bacterial, and mammalian cells, microalgae can do some post translational modifications without the risk of human pathogens or endotoxins. Not only that, but microalgae can be cheaper to grow, as they require cheap media formulations. Some companies are even looking into cultivating the organisms heterotrophically using spent wheat effluent, further reducing maintenance costs.

In order to express proteins of interest into microalgae, plasmids are usually used. Using electroporation or biolistic delivery, plasmids can be integrated into the chloroplast or nucleus of the microalgae. Nucleus is better for protein secretion into the media and post translational modifications, enabling cheaper purification costs. Chloroplast editing is great for high expression levels, but cell wall rupturing is usually more expensive.