生物技术研究引领中国微藻产业发展的六十年:回顾与展望

Development of microalgal industries in the past 60 years due to biotechnological research in China: a review

微藻是单细胞放氧光合作用微生物.据记载,早在1500年前的晋代,中国人就有食用微藻的传统,并尝试将其作为中药治疗疾病. 1959~1962年的三年困难时期,党和国家鼓励科学家开展小球藻替代粮食的研究,微藻生物技术开始得到发展. 20世纪80年代的"把螺旋藻作为全民蛋白质的补充"国家战略,为微藻生物技术的进步注入了创新活力.随着藻种选育技术、跑道式和管道式反应器的进步,以及微藻培养方式的根本性创新,我国的螺旋藻、小球藻、雨生红球藻和裸藻生物量接连取得根本性的突破,中国成为世界最大的微藻生产国.我国微藻生物技术研究将在引领产业降低生产成本、提高生产规模和效益的同时,引导建立微藻精准应用及环境治理的生物经济新模式.

Microalgae are unicellular photosynthetic microorganisms. About 1500 years ago, at the Jin Dynasty, the Chinese consumed microalgae as food and tried its use as traditional medicines. During the "three-year period of famine" from 1959 to 1962, the central Chinese government encouraged scientists to conduct research on the cultivation of Chlorella as a food substitute, thus initiating the early developmental stage of microalgal biotechnology. A newer biotechnological innovation was conceived in the 1980 s, when the national strategy which states that "Spirulina should be taken as a protein supplement by the Chinese" was instituted. Since then several key biotechnological innovations have been developed over the past 60 years, which are related to the breeding of microalgal species, raceway pond and tubular photobioreactor technology and "from 0–1" originality of microalgal cultivation modes. In China,a series of breakthroughs as regards the biomass scaling-up of Spirulina, Chlorella, Haematococcus pluvialis, and Euglena gracilis have been achieved;this has therefore made China the largest producer of microalgal biomass globally. The core missions of the research and development of microalgal biotechnology in China are to reduce production cost, and develop new bio-economy modes for both precise application and environmental governance through microalgal biomass usage.