Microalgae, those tiny organisms that thrive in water and sunlight, hold immense potential for addressing the world’s protein sustainability challenges. By tackling key cultivation bottlenecks and exploring alternative growth strategies such as mixotrophy, microalgae-based proteins may soon become more accessible to consumers, offering a valuable addition to our diets and food supply chains.

By taking the tools of tissue engineering and adapting them to work on a scale as large as agriculture, cell-cultured meat could change the world. But first, we need political will to fund foundational academic research in this field.