Phosphate, the final product our project manufacture, is an indispensable raw material to agricultural and industrial production in modern society. In other words, phosphate is a necessity for the advance of human civilization. Therefore, there is no doubt that it will receive excellent market prospect even in the context of interstellar migration.

    No.1: the final product, phosphate. It is reasonable to envisage that phosphate, as a raw material, can be applied in all aspects of social production and life on the earth and future terrestrial planets.

    No.2: the intermediate, polyphosphate (polyP). Compared with phosphate, polyP is an intermediate with high added value. Although staying in the stage of laboratory research, polyP has been proved to be involved in various important physiological processes, such as blood coagulation and bone regeneration [1,2]. In addition, research on material science has showed that polyP of short chain-length can serve as flame retardants [3]. Given that our biological origin polyP is a mixture of long chain-length molecules, we recommend that it can be further separated and purified by chromatography, such as gel permeation chromatography. The product, given chain-length polyP molecules, can then be subjected to specific scientific research.

    No.3: the side product, algae lysate. In addition to serving as a type of natural medium for scientific research, algae lysate, especially with cell debris, is rich in organic matters that come from carbon fixation. In the context of terrestrial planets, it is highly possible that the lack of soil fertility is a problem we have to face. We thus proposed that this part of organic matters can be used to improve soil.

    As far as biosafety is concerned, no gene sequences or bacterial strains with potential risks are involved in our project. Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-469, the blue-green algae that we used, is a cyanobacterium strain incapable of producing cyanotoxins [4,5], for which reason it has been served as a non-toxic control in relative research over the past 15 years. The safety regarding this cyanobacterium strain has been confirmed by the safety and security committee at iGEM. Please refer to the corresponding check-in-form.

    From the project perspective, we believed that boiling algae by solar energy is the most simple and feasible way to achieve cell lysis in the context of terrestrial planets. Given that this procedure involves heating, we think the main challenge is accidental scalds. No such situation occurred throughout the whole process of our project. Therefore, it's been our experience that the best way to avoid accidental scalds is always to operate with care.

    The major product of our project involves in almost all aspects of our life and thus has broad audience, including farmers, manufacturers from all walks of life, and researchers in relevant fields. All the strains used in the project and all the products developed by the project are environmentally friendly and would pose no hazards to the community and society. We genuinely hope that our project can contribute to future interstellar migration.

[1] J.J. Verhoef, A.D. Barendrecht, K.F. Nickel, K. Dijkxhoorn, E. Kenne, L. Labberton, O.J. McCarty, R. Schiffelers, H.F. Heijnen, A.P. Hendrickx, Polyphosphate nanoparticles on the platelet surface trigger contact system activation, Blood 129(12) (2017) 1707-1717.
[2] X. Wang, H.C. Schröder, M. Wiens, H. Ushijima, W.E. Müller, Bio-silica and bio-polyphosphate: applications in biomedicine (bone formation), Current Opinion in Biotechnology 23(4) (2012) 570-578.
[3] K.-S. Lim, S.-T. Bee, L.T. Sin, T.-T. Tee, C. Ratnam, D. Hui, A. Rahmat, A review of application of ammonium polyphosphate as intumescent flame retardant in thermoplastic composites, Composites Part B: Engineering 84 (2016) 155-174.
[4] Z. Ma, T. Fang, R.W. Thring, Y. Li, H. Yu, Q. Zhou, M. Zhao, Toxic and non-toxic strains of Microcystis aeruginosa induce temperature dependent allelopathy toward growth and photosynthesis of Chlorella vulgaris, Harmful Algae 48 (2015) 21-29.
[5] Q. Wang, W. Pang, S. Ge, H. Yu, C. Dai, X. Huang, J. Li, M. Zhao, Characteristics of Fluorescence Spectra, UV Spectra, and Specific Growth Rates during the Outbreak of Toxic Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-905 and Non-Toxic FACHB-469 under Different Nutrient Conditions in a Eutrophic Microcosmic Simulation Device, Water 12(8) (2020) 2305.