Green Pharma

Some of the greatest advances in human health came from studying microorganisms. Not just as pathogens, but also for producing essential pharmaceutical products when scientists understood the ability to manipulate the genetics of microorganisms, for example insulin, which can be produced by bacteria and yeast. Inserting DNA into organisms has been useful for this, as well as for modifying plants, particularly agricultural crops, to be better suited for cultivation and for improving the product for consumers.

Due to the head start that bacteria and fungi had over plants in the years of synthetic biology for pharmaceuticals, and for the longer wait time to get the desired compound with plants, biological production of pharmaceuticals has for the most part been limited to bacteria and fungi. Still, some see the value in producing specialized compounds from plants, such as the company Phylloceuticals, who is making protein therapeutics through genetic modification of plants such as tobacco and duckweed. In some cases there are advantages to using plants as a vehicle for producing special compounds.

The company Algae-C sees the value in biomanufacturing these special compounds through algae, an organism which can produce more rapidly and use less input than plants, as they engineer the DNA of the algae to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients. With algae as a vehicle for their pharmaceutical ingredients production, they hope to achieve a reduction in cost, environmental benefits, and effective development of high quality yields, with a positive consumer perspective for it being ‘plant-based’.

Meanwhile, the production of proteins by the San Diego based company Triton Algae can be incorporated into any consumers diet. The green algae they use is higher in protein than other common plant-based protein sources such as soy, along with other nutritional benefits that those following a vegetarian or vegan diet find difficult to get, such as iron, calcium, and omega 3s. They even offer recipes and products to try – I will update when I try some!