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UC San Diego Awarded $2 Million to Advance Algae-based Renewable Polymers

Department of Energy funds ‘bio-economy’ project for novel manufacturing of algae-based biopolymers

A team of University of California San Diego biologists and chemists has been granted $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop new methods for manufacturing products based on algae.

Project principal investigator Stephen Mayfield of UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences will lead efforts to develop novel platforms to produce biologically based monomers that will be used to manufacture renewable and biodegradable versions of plastic polymers called polyurethanes.