Algae fuel crosses paths with Monsanto, cancer research

Mar 9, 2011 by Candace Lombardi

March is known as the green month, so it’s fitting that only one week into it there’s already some interesting news for algae fuel supporters.

Agricultural giant Monsanto today announced it’s signed a deal with algae-crude producer Sapphire to collaborate on genetic engineering research that could be applied to both algae and agricultural crops.

The research involves identifying traits in algae genes for growth and durability. But the science can also be applied to plants like cotton, soybeans, and corn, according to Sapphire.

As part of the deal, Monsanto is making “an equity investment” in Sapphire, but the details of that investment were not disclosed. Other investors in Sapphire include Bill Gates’ investment firm Cascade Investment, Venrock, Arch Venture Partners, and Wellcome Trust.

“For Sapphire, this collaboration will push the known boundaries of algae science to search not only for traits that will impact traditional agricultural crops, but will also accelerate Sapphire’s road to commercializing algae as a renewable energy crop,” Sapphire said in a statement.

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