A group of scientists at University of Tokyo, Japan, is trying to figure out how to revolutionise the big three needs of human life: food, fuel and pharmaceuticals. For answers, they are looking to one of the tiniest life forms: euglena, a type of microalgae found in fresh and salty water. The man leading the euglena team is Keisuke Goda.
Professor Goda is known for having developed the world’s fastest camera, capable of filming tiny processes that happen not only in less than the blink of an eye, but in less than a millisecond (it takes between 300-400 milliseconds to blink). His camera can take a mind-boggling 5 trillion frames per second.
It allows for a range of breakthrough scientific research from being able to see how atoms actually behave in nuclear fission reactions, to spotting cancer cells rushing through the bloodstream before they spread to other organs. But the problem occupying the Goda laboratory at present is that of the heterogeneity of euglena. Not all euglena cells are equal when it comes to their capacity to produce lipids.
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Pond scum that could fuel jet planes
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