ALGAECOM

Title: Exploitation of microalgae diversity for the development of novel high added-value cosmeceuticals

Summary: Microalgae have the potential to revolutionize biotechnology in a number of areas including nutrition, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals and biofuels. AlgaeCom project seeks to exploit the microalgae biodiversity, as a source for state-of-the-art high-added-value cosmeceuticals.

The project will combine both basic and applied research in the fields of "omics" technologies, biochemistry and applied biotechnology in order to:

• Develop catalomics, metabolomics and glycomics resources for microalgae diversity as a valuable source of novel high-added-value cosmeceuticals such as polysaccharides, enzymes and secondary metabolites;
• In vitro functional characterize and toxicologicaly analyse microalgae cosmeceuticals using human epidermal cell lines and in vitro skin model;
• Develop and optimize application-based microalgae culture systems at different scales and optimize culture conditions for higher production rate of desired products;
• Develop analytical molecular diagnostic tools for real-time monitoring of the microalgae carbohydrate and polysaccharide metabolism in large scale cultures;
• Develop, formulate and in vitro evaluate cosmetic products based on microalgae cosmeceuticals (enzymes, small secondary metabolites and polysaccharides).

The AlgaeCom project will offer the opportunity for the development of well defined end products (cosmetic products, RT-qPCR molecular tools) to industrial partners. Finally, the integration of advanced research with an efficient mechanism for transfer of knowledge, training and dissemination will contribute favourably to the reinforcement of the collaboration between academia and industry.

For more information, please visit EurOcean Knowledge Gate.