The guests of the Matvælið podcast this time are Björn Þór Aðalsteinsson, project manager at Matís and Tryggvi Stefánsson, assistant manager at Algalíf. In the episode, they review marketing and research considerations in relation to genetic modification of microbes.
Björn Þór tells us about the Thermo-Tools project that Matís' biotechnology group has been working on for the past few years. The Thermo Tools project aims to develop new tools to genetically modify thermophilic microbes. Iceland has the unique feature of having a large amount of hot springs and, as a result, very good access to heat-loving microbes. Thermophilic microbes live at very high temperatures, ranging from 50-121°C, and the problem lies in the fact that the devices and tools normally used for genetic modification do not work at such high temperatures.
Tryggvi Stefánsson from Algalíf tells us about their production of Astaxanthin and how the market in which Algalíf operates sets a clear policy against genetic modification and the importance of having non-GMO certification in their production.
Listen to the full episode below:
The host is Ísey Dísa Hávarsdóttir