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00:00:01
Hope has a color
and it's green!00:00:04
One German research
team is convinced that algae00:00:07
can help solve some of
humanity's greatest problems.00:00:11
Around the globe, biologists
are hunting for microorganisms00:00:15
with extraordinary
abilities.00:00:16
Like lime-secreting algae,00:00:18
which might one day generate
climate-neutral cement.00:00:22
5% of global atmospheric
CO2 comes from construction00:00:27
from concrete
production.00:00:29
Now, here's a possible concrete
substitute that's the exact opposite.00:00:33
It doesn't produce
CO2, it absorbs it.00:00:36
For over a year, we
accompanied researchers00:00:39
from Kaiserslautern's
University of Applied Sciences.00:00:42
Even to the depths of a Spanish cave,
where life on Mars is being simulated.00:00:47
Here on Earth, or in
space algae could be key.00:00:53
Algae can take in waste
materials and waste water00:00:56
and extract nutrients
from it with very little light.00:01:00
They can also
produce oxygen.00:01:01
They can bind the
CO2 we exhale,00:01:04
creating oxygen and
food at the same time.00:01:07
Algae are probably amongst the
best organisms for producing food...00:01:38
An expedition in northern Spain
an hour's drive from Bilbao.00:01:49
These researchers, led by
biologist Michael Lakatos,00:01:54
are exploring a cave in the hopes
of discovering new species of algae00:01:58
and furthering their
research on known ones.00:02:01
They're not exactly
sure what awaits them.00:02:04
There are almost three
hundred caves in this valley alone00:02:07
and some four thousand
in all of Cantabria.00:02:10
One cave in particular00:02:12
is of special interest to the
German expedition team.00:02:22
What they discover
here is mind-blowing.00:02:26
Michael Lakatos finds
organisms that bear witness00:02:29
to the very origins
of life on Earth.00:02:37
I've just found
this huge patch00:02:39
with one of the oldest
cyanobacteria we're aware of.00:02:42
It's incredible.00:02:44
I've never seen
anything like it.00:02:46
It's quite incredible —
I'm at a loss for words.00:02:50
What's left him speechless
is how these bacteria,00:02:53
known colloquially
as blue-green algae,00:02:56
can survive with so little light.00:03:01
On one hand we really want to discover
and isolate new cyanobacteria,00:03:05
and use them for
biotechnological applications.00:03:08
At the same time, though, when we're
here in such a marvelous habitat,00:03:12
the first question is naturally
'how are they surviving?'00:03:15
So, that's what
we're doing here.00:03:17
We’re measuring
photosynthesis with this device.00:03:20
But we’re also seeing to what
extent they've adapted to the light,00:03:24
and how
they utilize it.00:03:34
For the algae researchers, this
Cantabrian cave is a godsend.00:03:41
A layperson might just see
a mossy-looking rock face.00:03:45
But for the biologists, it's a
window into a fascinating world.00:03:49
An extraordinary
multi-generational colony.00:03:55
You can see this colorful surface here
these fluffy little gray-green pads.00:04:00
These are
cyanobacteria.00:04:02
So are these
yellow ones here.00:04:04
These pink, jelly-like
blobs are striking.00:04:07
That's the particular cyanobacterium
we're after Gloeobacter.00:04:11
It's one of the oldest
living cyanobacteria.00:04:14
So it's a very basic,
primitive cyanobacteria,00:04:17
that's living here alongside
more modern species00:04:21
that have
evolved differently.00:04:23
They're all living
here, in the colony.00:04:30
Michael Lakatos
and Patrick Jung00:04:33
are thrilled with the wealth of
research material they’ve found00:04:36
and excited about the new
questions that arise from it.00:04:44
We know that they can
survive without much light,00:04:46
but we don't know exactly
what the lower limit is.00:04:49
There's also the question
of how exactly this works00:04:52
in the low-light situation we've
encountered deeper inside the cave.00:04:56
The cyanobacteria
population there is different.00:04:59
We found
different species.00:05:01
So certain processes
are different here.00:05:04
So the algae here
is quite clever?00:05:08
Yes, they can
photosynthesize in the dark.00:05:14
We've moved even
further into the cave and00:05:17
despite the
total darkness00:05:19
find species of
algae living here, too:00:05:26
Down here, only a hundred-thousandth00:05:29
of the light from
above can reach them.00:05:31
They're survival
artists, in the dark.00:05:34
They've simply
structured their physiology,00:05:36
their photosynthesis,00:05:37
so that they can use not
only the visible light spectrum,00:05:41
but and this would
be hugely exciting00:05:43
they may also be able to draw
from further along the range of light.00:05:47
In the red, or
in the far-red.00:05:52
It was Spanish
biologist Antonio Guillen00:05:55
who first drew his German
colleagues' attention to the cave,00:05:58
and sent
them samples.00:06:02
It was the beginning
of a great friendship00:06:04
between the Spanish and
German algae researchers:00:06:11
It opens up a new
field of research.00:06:13
I find it very interesting
in terms of the production00:06:16
and research of useful
substances and materials.00:06:19
Not just the biological aspect,
which is already fascinating,00:06:23
but also the
practical applications.00:06:25
In that regard, Patrick and
Michael's ideas are in line with ours.00:06:31
In other words: We're happy to
continue supporting them here,00:06:35
and we're looking forward to
working even more closely with them.00:06:45
The Spanish biologist
works for a company00:06:47
that wants to model
Mars missions here.00:06:51
They’ve set up a space station
of sorts, deep within the cave.00:06:55
The algae research
conducted by the German team00:06:58
could also be interesting
for missions into space:00:07:04
It aligns perfectly with our
original plan to draw on the potential00:07:09
of these unexplored
microorganisms.00:07:10
They're all apparently capable
of producing substances00:07:13
that have not yet
been researched.00:07:15
Antibiotics,
for instance.00:07:17
These organisms are in fierce
competition with each other,00:07:21
so they produce
antibiotics.00:07:29
They produce nutrients that
serve as food for other organisms,00:07:32
so they could
serve as food for us.00:07:35
It could all
be possible.00:07:42
A change of scene we
head to the laboratory00:07:45
at Kaiserslautern's
University of Applied Sciences.00:07:49
The Pirmasens campus is home
to the world's largest collection00:07:52
of terrestrial cyanobacteria
algae that live on land, not in water.00:07:59
For study purposes, they’re being
cultivated in liquid nonetheless.00:08:03
Over three hundred and fifty
species from all over the world00:08:06
can be found here.00:08:10
For example, here we've isolated
Chroococcidiopsis from the Antarctic,00:08:15
a unicellular alga.00:08:17
Here we've
isolated Microcoleus,00:08:19
a thread-like alga from
very hot desert regions.00:08:22
And a completely new
alga we’ve identified,00:08:25
from Svalbard, in
the Arctic, Oculatella.00:08:29
What does that do?00:08:31
It has a small red
tip, quite unusual.00:08:35
We don't know
why it's there!00:08:39
Researchers started the
collection back in the 1950s.00:08:43
The algae from the Spanish
cave are the latest addition00:08:46
and could one day help
us face the climate crisis.00:08:54
There are some that can
carbonize, for example.00:08:57
They behave like reef-building coral,
producing a sort of chalky skeleton.00:09:01
One of our new projects here
is to see whether we could use00:09:04
this as a cement
substitute.00:09:06
Cement that
can be grown.00:09:12
The samples we
collected are in here.00:09:16
The German researchers
are traveling the world00:09:19
on the hunt for new
species of algae.00:09:21
They most recently spent four
weeks in the Atacama Desert, in Chile.00:09:26
Wild... the whole
spine of the cactus00:09:28
here are the other
Trentepohlia samples.00:09:31
A special type of lichen that
grows on the tips of the cacti there.00:09:35
Deserts are
extreme locations.00:09:38
It's very hot and
there's little water.00:09:40
If the organisms
can survive there,00:09:42
they can also withstand
very high temperatures00:09:44
in biotechnological
reactors, for example.00:09:50
That’s number one... and number
two: In extreme habitats like that,00:09:55
you always find organisms that
can do something very special,00:09:59
such as producing
special active substances,00:10:02
or adopting specific,
new metabolic pathways.00:10:08
Some algae enter into a symbiosis
with fungi in order to survive00:10:12
in extreme places, forming lichens.00:10:15
Patrick Jung found such an
algae-fungus symbiosis in the Atacama.00:10:21
The fungus becomes a kind
of sun shade for the algae:00:10:26
Among other things, it
also provides UV protection00:10:29
against the harsh radiation
one finds in the Atacama Desert.00:10:33
The algae are not mobile, they're
trapped in a stationary position,00:10:37
and somehow have to protect
themselves from the sun's rays,00:10:41
which they
cannot avoid.00:10:42
With a lichen like this one, that
task falls to the fungal partner.00:10:47
It produces certain pigments
in the case of this species,00:10:50
those pigments are
greenish-yellow in appearance.00:10:54
Another key feature, the colony
survives on very little water.00:10:59
These are all properties
that could come in very handy.00:11:02
Say, in the development
of new products.00:11:08
How could we turn
organic waste into plastics?00:11:12
Early March, 2022: The official
launch of a research project00:11:16
called Waste2value.00:11:18
The vision: at some point, algae will
be grown directly on building facades00:11:24
and residents could
benefit from the harvest.00:11:26
If bioplastics were able
to thrive on such facades,00:11:30
it could also lead to growth
in regional economies.00:11:33
All thanks
to algae.00:11:35
Green fuels could also be
created, using the same methods.00:11:42
Research is funded by the German
federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate.00:11:46
They see it as an
investment in the future.00:11:51
On the state level, many
companies would benefit00:11:53
from becoming a little less
dependent on energy suppliers.00:11:57
That's a significant
consideration, these days.00:12:00
We'd also be making a
contribution to climate protection,00:12:03
from here in
Rhineland-Palatinate.00:12:07
The German Federal Ministry
of Education and Research00:12:10
is also funding
the project.00:12:12
They’ve granted eight million
euros for the first three years.00:12:15
Several partners are working
with the team from Pirmasens.00:12:20
We’re currently enjoying
an initial spark of interest.00:12:23
We're hoping to progress as far
as possible with the companies,00:12:27
ultimately implementing
some of the ideas00:12:29
we've been
researching for years.00:12:33
Yes wonderful
— just great.00:12:38
The two researchers are
unpacking a new piece of equipment:00:12:41
A
photo-bio-reactor.00:12:43
It will allow them to grow
algae that normally live on land,00:12:46
in liquid and thereby control
the way they reproduce.00:12:53
They don't grow as well, but
they grow in a controlled manner,00:12:57
and on a
large scale.00:12:58
We can then control their growth
here, in a kind of pre-culture,00:13:02
then transfer them
into larger reactors.00:13:07
Soon, an algae that's
popular with biologists00:13:10
will be growing
in this reactor.00:13:15
So this, for example,
is the ‘lab rat’00:13:18
for bio-technologists
working with algae.00:13:20
This is Synecocystis
it's used quite frequently00:13:23
and copes ideally
in conditions like this.00:13:27
What you see here, for example,
are the terrestrial algae we work with00:13:32
Nostoc muscorum.00:13:33
They're multicellular
and thread-like.00:13:39
You can see immediately
that they tend to clump together.00:13:44
You have to prevent that
with this mixing process.00:13:47
We're curious to see how
this algae grows in there00:13:50
we have no
experience with it yet.00:13:55
You haven't
tried yet?00:13:56
There it clumps up.00:13:59
What it'll do in here,
we don't even know yet.00:14:01
We're curious!00:14:03
The CO2 comes in here, and
the bubbles have to go up here...00:14:06
The reactor is an
important intermediate step00:14:08
towards producing larger
quantities of bioplastics00:14:11
or climate friendly
cement, one day.00:14:17
There's a big difference between
trying to force nature into the lab00:14:21
that’s to say, conducting experiments
on a small, laboratory scale00:14:25
and being able to think
on a larger industrial scale.00:14:29
That’s a whole
other ballpark.00:14:32
That took the longest,
all these connections...00:14:36
Modules the
size of a window.00:14:38
The researchers have
already commissioned them.00:14:41
The idea is to grow algae on facades
inside these photo-bioreactors.00:14:45
If it works, the process could
save a lot of waste and CO2.00:14:50
There are other
benefits, as well.00:14:52
Some algae
produce natural dyes.00:14:54
Some could end
up on our plates:00:14:59
Now, we have solar
systems on the roof.00:15:01
In future we could also cover
the east and west facades00:15:04
with these
algae reactors.00:15:06
Then either the collectors would
regularly come by to harvest them,00:15:09
or we'd harvest it
ourselves for food.00:15:12
The new lab
for the reactor00:15:14
Yes, wow!00:15:15
A lot of research is
still required, though.00:15:18
Space, too: The new research
reactor will soon be housed00:15:22
in this former
changing room.00:15:25
We'll be back for a visit once the
researchers have filled it with algae.00:15:32
For now, it's
back to Spain.00:15:35
Michael Lakatos and
his Spanish colleague00:15:37
have descended deep into the
cave — and reached the Mars station.00:15:42
The aim here is to replicate
living conditions on the Red Planet00:15:46
as realistically
as possible.00:15:52
One day, algae might be able to
help space pioneers survive on Mars.00:16:03
Cyanobacteria can take in
waste materials and waste water00:16:07
and extract their nutrients
from it — with very little light,00:16:10
like we have here.00:16:11
They then can
produce oxygen.00:16:14
They can bind the
CO2 we exhale, too,00:16:17
creating oxygen and
food at the same time.00:16:21
Algae are probably among the best
organisms for producing food in space.00:16:31
With the test station
in the Spanish cave,00:16:34
the company hopes to
approximate life on Mars00:16:37
even if some Martian conditions
are impossible to reproduce.00:16:43
We can't reduce gravity00:16:45
we need to take the
analogue aspects into account.00:16:46
The real thing would be
to actually be on Mars.00:16:51
The advantage is that we're not
on Mars; we are on Planet Earth,00:16:55
we can make
mistakes.00:16:57
Trial and error can help
us develop protocols00:17:00
that could eventually
help us survive up there.00:17:05
Biology is an important
area of research00:17:08
for this Earth-bound
Mars expedition00:17:11
and algae could play
a key role here, too.00:17:19
We have three main
lines of investigation;00:17:21
Psychology, engineering, and
biology, the protocols for life,00:17:29
the nutrients we
need to survive.00:17:33
Are we going to
be self-sufficient?00:17:34
Autonomous?00:17:35
Everything adding
to survival techniques00:17:38
energy production, food generation all
that is the most interesting for us.00:17:45
The German researchers
can hardly wait to find out more00:17:49
about the various ancient algae
species00:17:51
they’ve discovered in the cave.00:17:53
They're collecting
samples.00:17:55
Back at their home
laboratory in Pirmasens,00:17:57
they'll place them under the
microscope for a closer look.00:18:05
We'll analyze the samples and
then definitely take another look00:18:09
at their genes. We want to
really see it.00:18:11
It's not just one
species, or two, or three.00:18:14
There are probably many,00:18:15
many different
organisms living together here00:18:18
a little microcosm,
so to speak.00:18:21
That's what we
want to find out.00:18:23
To do that, we're carrying
out genetic analysis00:18:27
to determine which organisms
are living together here on this wall.00:18:31
Back to Pirmasens.00:18:33
The new research reactor is
full of life in the form of algae.00:18:38
Now, it's hoped
they will multiply.00:18:41
The researchers can grow
various algae in the reactor.00:18:45
An important step in
cultivating alternatives00:18:48
to environmentally
harmful plastic.00:18:53
The great advantage
of this algae, monostoc,00:18:56
is that it can
produce bioplastics.00:18:59
That means if
you give it sugar00:19:00
simply give it additional
carbon sources00:19:03
it starts to produce
butyric acid.00:19:05
That's the basic building
block for a really great bioplastic.00:19:09
It's called
PHB for short.00:19:11
It's both biocompatible and
biodegradable, compostable.00:19:16
It's used for sutures in
medicine, for example.00:19:24
Our bodies would probably cope
much better with organic plastic00:19:28
in our food than with
conventional plastic.00:19:31
Under the microscope you can see
the bio-plastic that the algae forms00:19:35
as white dots.00:19:40
The problem at the moment,
going by a global WWF study,00:19:44
is that we ingest around 100
micro-particles of microplastics00:19:47
with each meal.00:19:49
That's the equivalent
of 2000 particles a week,00:19:52
or 5 grams
each week.00:19:54
That's the equivalent
of a credit card.00:19:57
That means that, on average,
everyone in the world, every week,00:20:01
is eating a credit-card
worth of plastic.00:20:08
Eventually, the laboratory's
research reactors00:20:11
will be replaced with
these window modules.00:20:14
Then, everyone can watch
algae at work in their own window.00:20:21
This is our calling
card, so to speak.00:20:23
These need much less water just
an aerosol spray 90% less water.00:20:28
They have better gas exchange,
they're easier to harvest and so on.00:20:32
This is our newest model, for
growing cyanobacteria in the future.00:20:41
Dyes could be grown here,
in these facade windows.00:20:44
Or cosmetics.00:20:46
Or even food:00:20:50
Algae is eaten in China as
a traditional New Year's dish,00:20:54
for instance.00:20:55
That's Nostoc flagelliforme, an algae
that's collected from the desert.00:20:59
We can grow it here under
these conditions and then sell it.00:21:03
Whereas they can't be grown
in the other, liquid process.00:21:08
It will be some time before the
first products made in Pirmasens00:21:12
come onto
the market.00:21:14
We still have a few years to wait,
too, for the first organic concrete00:21:17
produced with
Spanish cave algae.00:21:21
This block is our
first prototype.00:21:24
Here, we introduced a cyanobacteria
strain into the concreting process.00:21:29
It's not yet one from
the cave, though.00:21:31
This is a
laboratory strain.00:21:34
We carried out our first
preliminary tests with it.00:21:37
To see whether this process
works with cyanobacteria at all.00:21:41
In the long term, we want to work
with the cyanobacteria from the cave.00:21:45
Since they
calcify naturally.00:21:47
We can then use the process
for concrete production.00:21:50
It'll be another two to four years
before we've optimized the system.00:21:55
Too soon to tell?00:21:57
Yes, but we're
on the right track.00:22:04
Another milestone:
In Auderath,00:22:05
in the Eifel region, a
metal construction company00:22:08
is building four
large bioreactors.00:22:11
The window modules will be two meters
forty high,00:22:14
one meter forty-two across.00:22:18
Now the question's which one goes
at the bottom and which at the top.00:22:22
This one here,
and that there...?00:22:25
Algae researcher Michael
Lakatos is seeing the modules00:22:28
for the first
time today.00:22:33
Amazing.00:22:34
When you draw it, you think
'Okay, that should fit, roughly'00:22:37
but then you see
how big it is in reality.00:22:39
It's a dimension that
we've never had before.00:22:41
That's also
really important.00:22:43
We're always working
on a laboratory scale.00:22:46
100 milliliters by
maybe 10 liters is the largest.00:22:50
Now we're at
100 liters.00:22:52
That's a whole
other story.00:22:54
We're really getting into
it now, on a grand scale.00:23:01
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate
is picking up the bill00:23:04
around 80,000
euros to produce four modules.00:23:08
The reactors can be
set up in a laboratory.00:23:11
However, the researchers can
also hang them on building facades,00:23:14
and grow
algae there.00:23:21
The water comes in
from the top, just as mist00:23:24
and then spreads
through the whole interior.00:23:27
When it drips down, it's
fed out again at the bottom,00:23:29
then circulates
back to the top.00:23:36
For the small metal and
steel construction company,00:23:38
it was quite
an order00:23:40
not least because they had to procure
acid-resistant stainless steel:00:23:44
When I read the call for
tenders and saw 'bioreactor',00:23:48
at first I wondered
what it was.00:23:50
Is it something
atomic?00:23:51
That's what it
sounds like, at first.00:23:53
In retrospect, though,
it makes a lot of sense.00:23:56
I must say, I find what they're
doing there very interesting.00:23:59
I'm a fan of
the project.00:24:03
To prevent the algae in the
module from getting too much light00:24:06
or dying from overheating
sun protection is built in.00:24:13
The inside of the reactor
mustn't get too hot,00:24:16
because otherwise the algae
would get too hot as well, and die.00:24:19
That's why we've shaded it
from the sun: First from above,00:24:23
then again
from the side.00:24:24
We'll hang
cords here.00:24:26
There are plants in
the cords that will sprout00:24:28
and provide even more
shade for the reactor.00:24:34
The algae in the reactors will
soon be producing bio-plastic00:24:38
and absorbing
CO2 from the air.00:24:41
They'll be hung on an actual facade
in Stuttgart for research purposes.00:24:46
Michael Lakatos is
convinced: Algae reactors00:24:49
like this have a great
future ahead of them,00:24:52
and will one day be
part of every cityscape:00:24:58
At the moment, we're where
photovoltaics were in the 1970s.00:25:02
We've developed
it, so to speak.00:25:04
How quickly we can
actually get it into use:00:25:07
On houses, in houses ultimately,00:25:09
that's up to
the politicians.00:25:12
If they subsidize us, it
will happen very quickly.00:25:15
Will algae
save the world?00:25:16
Of course! Well, it's
certainly part of the mix.00:25:27
For now, the algae
researchers from Pirmasens00:25:30
still have a lot of exploring to
do in every corner of the planet.Description:
Using algae to solve humanity’s most pressing problems - that’s the ambitious aim of a team of researchers from Germany. After all, algae are posessed of staggering superpowers: for example, the ability to bind CO2. Algae can also be used to make plastic substitutes and even medication. For a research project called "Waste to value”, Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences biologist Michael Lakatos and his team are investigating the potential uses of microalgae. Some species form limestone, which could be used to make bio-cement - thereby reducing CO₂. Other forms of algae could serve as a biologically-based plastic substitute. Yet others could produce edible dyes - using sunlight and CO₂. The researchers are traveling the world in search of especially talented algae and bacteria. The filmmakers accompany the team members for almost a year - even following them into a Spanish cave used to emulate life on Mars. After all, algae could have many potential uses in space, including as a foodstuff for astronauts. ______ DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch top documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary. Subscribe to: ⮞ DW Documentary (English): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocumentary ⮞ DW Documental (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocumental ⮞ DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو (Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocarabia ⮞ DW Doku (German): https://www.youtube.com/dwdoku ⮞ DW Documentary हिन्दी (Hindi): https://www.youtube.com/dwdochindi For more visit: https://www.dw.com/en/docfilm/program-294010 Follow DW Documentary on Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Follow DW Documental on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser We kindly ask viewers to read and stick to the DW netiquette policy on our channel: https://www.dw.com/en/dw-netiquette-policy/a-5300954
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