The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Biotechnol Adv. 2020 Jul-Aug;41:107536. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107536. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
One of the key challenges that we face in the 21st century is the need to feed an ever-increasing human population with increasingly limited natural resources. Even today it is estimated that roughly 1 out of 9 people in the world are undernourished, of which the most important factor is protein-energy malnutrition. By establishing microalgae as a new food and feed platform, we have the opportunity to increase the supply of these essential products to address global demands in a more efficient and environmentally sustainable way. Many types of algae are nutritionally complete foods, their yields outperform most plant crops, and there is a growing set of tools to develop improved strains of algae. Similar improvements were achieved in traditional crops through thousands of years of breeding and strain selection, whereas with the newest genetic engineering tools and advanced strain selection techniques, similar changes can be implemented in microalgae in just a few years. Here we describe different strategies that could be used to enhance the nutritional content, productivity, and organoleptic traits of algae to help drive development of this new crop. Clearly developing more efficient, sustainable, and nutritious foods and feed would be an enormous benefit for the planet, and algae represents an opportunity to develop a new crop that would complement traditional agriculture, and one that could potential result in a more efficient means to meet the world's food and feed supply.
我们在 21 世纪面临的主要挑战之一是需要用日益有限的自然资源来养活不断增长的人口。即使在今天，据估计世界上仍有大约 1/9 的人营养不良，其中最重要的因素是蛋白质-能量营养不良。通过将微藻确立为一种新的食品和饲料平台，我们有机会以更高效和更环保的方式增加这些必需产品的供应，以满足全球需求。许多种类的藻类都是营养齐全的食物，它们的产量超过了大多数植物作物，而且有越来越多的工具可以开发改良的藻类品种。传统作物通过数千年的培育和品种选择也取得了类似的改进，而利用最新的基因工程工具和先进的品种选择技术，只需短短几年时间就可以在微藻中实现类似的改变。在这里，我们描述了几种可以用来提高藻类的营养价值、生产力和感官特性的策略，以帮助推动这种新型作物的发展。显然，开发更高效、更可持续、更有营养的食品和饲料将给地球带来巨大的益处，而藻类则提供了一个开发新作物的机会，可以补充传统农业，并且有可能以更有效的方式满足世界的粮食和饲料供应。
