Commercial developments in microalgal biotechnology

A number of important advances have occurred in microalgal biotechnology in recent years that are slowly moving the field into new areas, New products are being developed for use in the mass commercial markets as opposed to t he "health food" markets. These include algal-derived long-chained polyunsa turated fatty acids, mainly docosahexaenoic acid, for use as supplements in human nutrition and animals, Large-scale production of algal fatty acids i s possible through the use of heterotrophic algae and the adaptation of cla ssical fermentation systems providing consistent biomass under highly contr olled conditions that result in a very high quality product. New products h ave also been developed for use in the development of pharmaceutical and re search products, These include stable-isotope biochemicals produced by alga e in closed-system photobioreactors and extremely bright fluorescent pigmen ts. Cryopreservation has also had a tremendous impact on the ability of str ains to be maintained for long periods of time at low cost and maintenance while preserving genetic stability.