Genetic and metabolic engineering of microalgae

Abstract

Microalgae are promising producers of many valuable compounds serving the food, feed, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries. Microalgae grow rapidly and generally tolerate a wide range of environments. They can serve as cell factories for economical and sustainable production of diverse products. Microalgae can be transformed through genetic and metabolic engineering methods to overproduce the desired chemicals. Advancements in the "omics" technologies are generating information to allow design and creation of super algal strains for producing biofuels and other products.