BIOTECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF CYANOBACTERIA

Cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) occur worldwide in a ra nge of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. This large an d diverse group of Gram- negative prokaryotes, long employed for resea rch on photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, is now being utilized and further explored for biotechnological development. Cyanobacteria now find wide use in agriculture and hold great promise in the field of bi oremediation. Various chemicals, including restriction enzymes, pharma cological probes, and labelled compounds for research, as well as fluo rescent probes for clinical diagnostics, are now commercially availabl e. Potentially useful compounds, including pharmaceuticals and industr ial chemicals, have been identified and are currently being developed. Cyanobacterial hydrogen production, still in the basic research stage , promises production of a low-cost, non-polluting energy source for t he next century. Low-cost culture methodology and improvements in down stream processing are needed to make industrial-scale cyanobacterial b iotechnology a reality.