Generales

Universidad de Antioquia, Colciencias and Ecotec, a major microalgae cultivator based in Colombia, have teamed up to cultivate microalgae for cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industry. 

Microalgae have been widely studied by the UdeA Biotechnology Group, a team of researchers focused on the biorefinery of plant, fungi and algae cell cultures.

Microalgae are used to produce protein pigments that can differentiate cancer cells from normal cells as well as polysaccharides that inhibit the production of collagenase, hyaluronidase and elastase, which are protein-degrading enzymes responsible for damaging and destroying collagen, hyaluronic acid and elastin, respectively.

Researchers of the Biotechnology Group have managed to develop culture protocols and create a device that increases the production of microalgae. The Biotechnology Group has teamed up with Ecotec in order to exploit microalgae production.

“This one-of-a-kind device is designed for the production of different types of microalgae that have been proved effective for treating a number of diseases and skin aging,” said biologist Lucía Atehortúa, coordinator of the Biotechnology Group.

Currently, pigments from microalgae can cost up to $33,000 per gram and must be imported from Germany, Cuba, Japan or China. The Biotechnology Group-Ecotec partnership seeks to meet domestic demand and commercialize the prototype device.

“Pigments, especially R-Phycoerythrin and C-Phycocyanin, are used in flow cytometry (a technique designed for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases such as leukemia, chronic granulomatous disease and AIDS). These pigments cost about $161 a milligram,” Atehortúa said. The device will help reduce costs, and the commercialization of the prototype would become a source of revenue for the University.