Oil giant Total places first bet on algal biofuels, with Cellectis

In France, Cellectis announced that it has signed an agreement with Total to develop microalgae-based oil substitutes.

The program’s first phase will look into developing genome engineering methods and tools on certain microalgae species selected for their specific characteristics. The second phase would focus on trait engineering (specific changes to the metabolism and species) with a view to producing compounds which are currently derived from oil. The costs for this joint program will be split equally between the two partners.