Researchers from the School of Biological Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale received a grant of $194,000 to develop a solution to toxic algae. It was gifted from the United States Harmful Algal Bloom Control Technologies Incubator project.
Blue-green algae or cyanobacteria are not harmful on their own, but they sometimes produce toxic substances that can harm wildlife, livestock, pets, and humans and create issues, especially in coastal communities. The faculty researchers will use the grant to develop a molecular-based approach that will stop the algae from producing toxins on a genetic level.
"There are things you can do to limit their growth..." Researcher Scott Hamilton-Brehm said, "... but most of these things will not work on a large scale... our solution is to stop toxin production while leaving the microbe alone."
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