Two leaders in algae and carbon utilization were recognized this month by the Biotechnology Industrial Organization (BIO).
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, was awarded the 2015 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology.
LanzaTech is developing the world’s first alternative jet fuel from industrial waste gases, and has a partnership with the IOC-DBT Center for Advanced Bio-Energy Research (an entity co-funded by India’s Department of Biotechnology and Indian Oil Corporation Limited) to pair algae cultivation with their technology for the production of omega-3 rich fatty acids and other products.
And later in the month the recognition for pioneers (bioneers?) in biotech and algae fields continued with the announcement that Solazyme’s CEO and co-founder Jonathan S. Wolfson had been awarded BIO’s 2015 George Washington Carver Award for innovation in industrial biotechnology.
Solazyme’s sustainable algal oils can replace petroleum-based and other unsustainable oils widely used in many industries. This includes not only fuels, but products like algal flours that can replace grain-based flours, as well as algae-derived replacements for butter and eggs.
Both of these leaders deserve congratulations for these awards and the incredible accomplishments that made them possible!