New type of algae offers breakthrough in cell cultivation

The time it takes to grow new skin for burns victims could be improved thanks to a new method of cell cultivation using algae, developed by University of Queensland researchers.

Dr. Melanie Oey and her team at UQ's Institute of Molecular Bioscience combined a new type of Queensland algae, Chlorella BDH-1, with mammalian cells to improve the process of growing tissue cells.

Our work shows muscle cells co-cultivated with the algae grow faster, live longer and require fewer expensive additives.

The algae act like tiny life-support systems that can solve multiple problems at once."

Dr. Melanie Oey, UQ's Institute of Molecular Bioscience

The research could benefit tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with accelerated growth of 3D tissues and skin grafts.

In cell cultures the researchers reported more than 80 per cent increase in cell growth, up to 3 times the number of usable cells and cell cultures that remained viable for longer.

There was also a 50 per cent reduction in the need to use animal cells.

The method also has the potential to benefit other applications such as growing cultivated meat more affordably.

Australia's food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand recently approved the sale of lab-grown or cell-cultured meat – created by growing or multiplying individual animal cells – but cost remains a barrier.

"The growing population requires more protein, but it's the most expensive macronutrient, and animal farming is also a climate concern,'' Dr Oey said.

"But growing meat in the lab is expensive largely due to the nutrients and oxygen the cells need and the waste they produce.

"Our research could make cultivated meat a sustainable, affordable, ethically acceptable alternative protein source."

Other applications for the use of Chlorella BDH-1 algae in cell culture include:

• Growing organoids (artificially grown masses of cells that resemble an organ) to use in testing drugs and avoiding the need for animal testing.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing with companies able to grow and test cells more efficiently, with lower overheads and fewer inputs.

Dr Oey said the Chlorella BDH-1 algae was chosen because it does not consume glucose and doesn't compete with mammalian cells for food.

It naturally produces oxygen and removes waste, creating a more supportive environment for muscle cells to thrive.

"In the human body blood delivers oxygen and removes waste, but in a lab setting you don't have that system,'' she said.

"By adding algae we're essentially creating a mini-symbiosis or mutually beneficial interaction where the algae provide oxygen and take away waste, helping the cells grow better.

"It's a simple idea with broad potential.

"By working with nature – using algae to improve the cellular environment – we've created a scalable way to support healthier, longer lasting and more efficient cell cultures."

The research is published in Biotechnology Journal.