Algal Biomass Technology and Research

This new two-volume book describes the current advances and emerging issues in the use of algal biomass in the fields of bioenergy, food science, pharmaceutical drugs, and environmental engineering, with special emphasis on metabolic engineering and synthetic biological involvement to ameliorate efficacy of algal biomass towards sustainable solutions.

The volumes explore the most recent advances and prospects of micro- and macroalgae in the fields of biotechnology, microbiology, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, biochemical engineering, and systems biology for the creation of algal cell factories. The books cover a broad spectrum of algal biomass technology for value-added products and for the recycling of environmental pollutants. The volumes focus on metabolic engineering and synthetic biological involvement to improve the efficacy of algal biomass for sustainability, placing detailed emphasis on micro- and macroalgae functional diversity toward production, harvesting, and application. An updated and comprehensive theory on the use of algal biomass toward improving value-added product synthesis, application, and scaling up toward industrial sustainability is also included.

Volume 1 elaborates on the impact of process parameters and phytohormones to improve algal biomass generation in the food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and agriculture industries, providing consideration of the engineering, biological design, and applications of algal biomass along with relevant implementations. Chapters include a review on potential aspects of algal biomass and the sustainable usage of algal biomass for food processing, nutraceutical production, pharmaceutical applications, and more.

Volume 2 focuses on sustainable biorefinery methods based on algae for the treatment of wastewater, for desalination, for bioenergy production, for lignocellulosic waste biomass utilization, and for environmental bioremediation. It also covers the connections between traditional and cutting-edge technologies, emphasizing the production of all types of algal biomass (including macro- and microalgae), with a focus on the bioengineering component. This volume places emphasis on two key areas: engineering implications and biological sciences implications.

Together, these volumes provide a wealth of practical information on algal biomass technology and research that will be of interest and use to researchers, scientists, industry professionals, and faculty and students in fields that include microbiology, biotechnology, food technology, bioengineering, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, pharmaceutical sciences, agricultural technology, and environmental sciences.

Dipankar Ghosh, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Biosciences (Microbiology & Biotechnology) at JIS University, Kolkata, India. His research interest is in microbial engineering and algal biotechnology. He has qualified and completed a short-term course on forensic sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has pursued his research work as postdoctoral research associate and research fellow with full scholarships from different prestigious organizations, such as Imperial College, London, UK; Pusan National University, South Korea; University of Turku, Finland; and IIT Kharagpur, India. He received funding for industry-sponsored research projects at JIS University. Currently, he is supervising several PhD research scholars and has supervised 40 MSc project research trainees and 10 internships students to date. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and reviews in esteemed international journals, such as Trends in Biotechnology (Cell Press), Bioresources Technology (Elsevier), Environmental Management (Elsevier), and many more. Dr. Ghosh has published multiple book chapters with reputed publication houses that include Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, AAP, CRC, Taylor & Francis, and Nova Science Publishers. He earned his PhD from the University of Montreal, Canada, having received a PBEEE doctoral merit scholarship from the Govt. of Canada; his MPhil is from Annamalai University and his MSc is from Calcutta University, India.

Onkar Nath Tiwari, PhD, is a Senior Principal Scientist and Principal Investigator of DBT & ICAR projects at the Centre for Conservation and Utilization of Blue Green Algae (CCUBGA), Division of Microbiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. He has received honorary fellowship awards and best paper presentation awards and has chaired several international events and conferences. He has supervised PhD students in association with several top universities in India. He is the supreme task force member of the projects funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Govt. of India, and is engaged in algal biofuel research. He has visited several nations for research and academic activities, including the Culture Collection of Algae, University of Texas at Austin, USA, and institutions in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Romania, Japan, and China. He has been successfully running three funded research projects (Government of India) and has completed seven mega projects, with each project worth more than 100 lakhs (over $10 million in USD). He has produced more than 152 peer-reviewed articles published in international and national journals, as well as book chapters. In addition, he has developed 11 publications in the form of books, protocols, training manuals, and catalogues. Dr. Tiwari was appointed as an eminent member of the Board of Directors of the Algal Biomass Research and Commercialization: Intelligent Biotechnologies, Austin, TX, USA.