Potential of CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Engineering for Biofuel Production From Economically Relevant Algae

The worldwideenergydemandcontinuestorise,whilerelianceonfossilfuelsremainsunsustainableduetoglobalwarming, declining reservesandrisingoilprices.Thishasintensified thesearchforrenewablealternatives.Amongthese,microscopicalgae have emergedasapromisingfeedstockforthird-generationbiofuels.Owingtotheirrapidbiomassproductivity,highlipidcontent and abilitytogeneratediversebioproducts,microalgaeofferdistinctadvantagesoverterrestrialplants.Lipidsderivedfromalgae can beconvertedintobiodiesel,whiletheirbiomassyieldsvaluableco-productssuchascarbohydrates,proteinsandpolyunsatu- rated fattyacids(FAs).Theseattributespositionalgaeascriticalcontributorstotheadvancementofsustainablebiofuelsandbio- based compounds.Recentadvancesinclusteredregularlyinterspacedshortpalindromicrepeats(CRISPR)technology,particularly the CRISPR/Cas9system,haveopenednewavenuesforprecise,stableandtargetedgenomemodifications inalgae.Optimising CRISPR/Cas9 toolspresentsopportunitiestoenhancelipidproduction,improvemetabolicpathwaysandexpandtheindustrial scalability ofalgalbiofuels.However,theapplicationofCRISPR/Cas9toeconomicallyrelevantalgalspeciesalsopresentsunique technical andbiologicalchallenges,includingspecies-specific transformationbarriers,off-targeteffectsandregulatoryhurdles. This reviewsynthesisesthecurrentstateofCRISPR/Cas9applicationsinalgalbiofuelresearch,highlightingbothopportunitiesand limitations. Indoingso,thisstudyunderlinesthetransformativepotentialofgenomeengineeringtechnologiesforsustainable energy productionwhilecriticallyevaluatingtheobstaclesthatmustbeaddressedtorealiseindustrial-scaleimplementation.By framing thesechallengesalongsideemergingsolutions,thearticlecontributesafocusedperspectiveonhowCRISPR/Cas9can accelerate thedevelopmentofalgae-basedbiofuels,therebychartingapathtowardsagreenerenergyfuture.