Algae are everywhere. There are an estimated 50,000
species that produce around half of the earth's oxygen and
provide valuable services to the food chain, soil chemistry
and water ecosystems. They can also be a nuisance invasive
species; given the right conditions, algal blooms foul
waterways, choke wildlife and make humans sick.
The role of algae – both good and bad – in ecosystem
health is still not fully known by scientists, says
bioenergy expert and consultant David Haberman. So
creating genetically modified algae – which are almost
guaranteed to get out of the lab and into the natural
environment – without much insight into the consequences is
a scary idea, he says.
“The reality is that no one has a clear understanding of
those interactions,” Haberman says. “The lack of study of
the potential hazards is of great concern.”
Haberman calls algae the “hydrogen of the plant world.”
The entire organism can be easily aerosolized and get on
clothes, in hair, in the lungs and can thus escape from a
controlled environment. If that happens with the right
strain, he fears it could compete with natural strains and
cause uncontrolled growth.
Tom Allnut, the senior vice president of R&D at the
algae
start-up Phycal, believes some of the concerns about
engineered algae are valid. Given that algae are
“cosmopolitan” organisms, he worries about horizontal gene
transfer creating antibiotic resistance in wild algal
strains and boosting growth rates throughout the world.
But with the right protections in place, he doesn't see
it as the threat some make it out to be.
“I think as responsible citizens we should have a system
of bio-containment,” says Allnut. “And we've already done
that in molecular biology.”
He points to early research on e.coli, which were
designed to require a particular amino acid to survive
outside the lab. Without it, the bacteria died. Allnut
believes the same can be done for algae. Indeed, the
research is already underway; Phycal was awarded a grant
from the National Science Foundation to develop a
bio-security system in algae.
“I'm all for genetically modified organisms, but I'm all
for safety,” says Allnut.
Other companies are experimenting with such traits as
well.
Sapphire Energy, which
signed a multi-year research agreement with the GM-giant
Monsanto earlier this month, says its algae – of which it
has created thousands of new strains – are designed to be
uncompetitive with wild strains. Like a domesticated animal
released into the wild, Sapphire says its algae will be
unequipped to live outside a controlled environment.
Reasearchers at Synthetic Genomics, led by the famous
biologist Craig Venter and
funded heavily by Exxon, have alluded to the creation of
a “suicide” gene that will kill an alga if it escapes to the
lab. However, the company says it is not currently
developing the trait.
And the Israeli company TransAlgae is creating algae with
traits that paralyze them in the wild – like taking away
their ability to swim or absorb CO2 in certain environments.
The company also says it's developing a self-destructing
gene.
All these efforts are important, says David Haberman, but
they don't yet prove that environmental problems can be
avoided.
The U.S. Department of Energy and Department of
Agriculture have invested tens of millions of dollars in
various algae projects; however, Haberman says those
agencies have explicitly set aside necessary federal
environmental reviews in order to accelerate research and
prove the technologies. He believes that the avoidance of
comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments is
irresponsible.
“I hold the government accountable for this,” says
Haberman. “There's little oversight, no regulatory regime
and companies are not held accountable. The reality is we're
just in a game of trust.”
These are still early days for engineering algae; most
companies are working on the lab or pilot scale. So far,
there have been no environmental or health problems
associated with genetically modified algae. But with greater
build-out of production facilities and use of more
genetically modified strains of algae, the chances of a
problem also increase.
With no comprehensive effort to study the impact, no one
really knows what how big the problem could be – or even if
it's a serious problem at all.
For more on this issue and on the economics of
algae-based fuel production, take a listen to this week's
Inside Renewable Energy podcast, linked above.
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