Researchers in algae research breakthrough
Micro-organisms could be harnessed for drug production
Researchers in the US have revealed a novel way to transport molecules into algae, paving the way to harness such micro-organisms to produce commercially viable biofuels, drugs and other compounds. Algae are increasingly popular ingredients in drug and vaccine manufacture.
‘We show for the first time that a guanidinium-rich molecular transporter can deliver a variety of cargo in several algae species,’ said Bahram Parvin, a research scientist from the Life Sciences Division of the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which collaborated with fellow Californian institution Stanford University on the project.
The technique is versatile: it transports both small molecules and larger ones, such as proteins, through cell walls and membranes of certain algal species. ‘The range of uses…is likely to be very broad,’ Parvin said. ‘It could offer insights on algae barriers and serve as a new tool for the molecular manipulation and imaging of algae.’