Grant: Alliance Grants

The bioeconomy consists of the sectors that rely on renewable natural resources and capabilities in the life sciences and other disciplines to produce goods and services. It expands the products of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. We aim to establish a global center focused on macroalgae (seaweed) and to develop tools to advance the bioeconomy. Macroalgae, abundant and valuable, are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet. They can mitigate carbon dioxide emissions, have almost double the growth rate of sugarcane, have high carbohydrate content and low water usage compared with terrestrial crops. They lack lignin and produce many therapeutically valuable chemicals. These properties make macroalgae a promising, environmentally sustainable resource to produce fuels, food, minerals, and carbon sequestration. While there is wide-scale use of macroalgae for food in developing countries, there is a paucity of applications utilizing it for industrial processes and environmental applications. Recent research has identified the potential for macroalgae as a third-generation feedstock for commodity and fine chemical production. However, a lack of knowledge about macroalgae biodiversity, biochemical and physiological properties, the limited use of genetic tools to optimize desirable traits, the lack of automation in culturing and harvesting, and the limited technologies available for biomass storage and conversion into valuable products have restricted its implementation. This state of knowledge presents an opportunity for basic and use-inspired research and the development of biofoundries to unlock the potential of macroalgae-based products.