Synthetic bio could save our seas

In California, SynBioBeta, a community of entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers and enthusiasts devoted to the responsible growth of the synthetic biology field, has done a deep dive on the numerous ways synthetic biology could help save Earth’s beleaguered oceans. 

Synthetic biology is already replacing ingredients that were once sourced from the ocean, according to the group. Demand for squalane, a personal care ingredient found in shark liver, used to claim 2.7 million shark lives annually. Now, synthetic biology firm Amyris can make squalane from sugarcane, which accounts for 70% of the world’s market. Squalane can also be used as a vaccine adjuvant, a field that has seen meteoric interest amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Projects such as the F3 Fish-Free Feed Challenge are also ramping up efforts to replace aquaculture protein currently sourced from forage fish and fishmeal with bioengineered ingredients. Such sources would also reduce the toxins farmed fish feed like krill carry over from the oceans and introduce into the human food supply. “This is an example of where you can build back better. If you do feed them sustainably, these fish [These fish] don’t have toxins from heavy metal or ocean plastics, and they can taste great,” says Barbara Page, Principle of the F3.