February 16, 2022
Molecular biologist Scott Franklin has spent the last 25 years in awe of the secret properties of microalgae鈥攚hat he calls 鈥渢he mother of all higher plants.鈥� While many people consider it an environmental scourge鈥攃ertain species have the power to proliferate into a toxic bloom within hours鈥攎icroalgae is, for Franklin, a wondrous source of triglyceride oils and fatty acids. 鈥淭here are thousands of strains of microalgae everywhere, but you don鈥檛 see them,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge diversity out there.鈥�
Not only could microalgae change the way modern industry made everything from plastics, paint, skin care products and even a nutritional supplement that鈥檚 low in saturated fat, it could be a cheaper and greener solution to manufacturers鈥� reliance on petroleum-based materials.
Yet Franklin knew that getting big chemical companies to embrace a new material wouldn鈥檛 be easy. There was the logistical challenge of mass-producing microalgae-based oils, especially in arable regions of the world. Then there was the human one: People typically stick with what鈥檚 worked for decades and are hesitant to take a risk on something new.
Yet in 2008, Franklin found a future partner in Stanford MBA Charles Dimmler, who鈥檇 cut his teeth in biotech corporate development. The two met while working together at a San Francisco-based company called Solazyme that was exploring the commercial future of industrial microbial oils.
Dimmler remembers the day he became a believer; he was floored listening to Franklin鈥檚 presentation during a management meeting that showed the viability and profitability of engineering microalgae at scale. The company later built a fermentation processing facility in Brazil that was designed to annually produce 30 million gallons of oil that could be shipped globally.
鈥淧eople had thought it was impossible,鈥� says Dimmler. 鈥淏efore Solazyme, the idea of microalgae had never crossed my mind. If you had asked me what it was, I would have said 鈥楶ond scum.鈥欌��
Nearly six years ago, after Solazyme was bought by another company that pivoted to other products, Dimmler and Franklin decided to start their own company called in honor of a butterfly native to California's Sierra Nevada that has been harmed by climate change. This time, though, the founders had more than enthusiastic data projections; they had new tools that could help them find the most robust strains down to the molecule. Through whole-genome sequencing and transcriptomics鈥攔apidly advancing technologies that reveal the complete DNA makeup of everything from plants to human diseases, as well as which genes are expressed鈥攖hey could identify the microalgae strains that could most effectively convert sugar into oil. They were accepted into VR真人彩票 Accelerator鈥檚 sixth funding cycle in 2017 and were given access to sequencing machines, reagents, and lab space. 鈥淏eing able to see what genes had been turned on to make triglyceride oils in myriad strains provided us a blueprint,鈥� says Franklin, Checkerspot鈥檚 chief scientific officer. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what a partner like VR真人彩票 was able to help us unlock.鈥�
Today, they鈥檝e raised over $50 million and employ about 65 people split between the Bay Area in Northern California, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Golden Valley, Minnesota. Recently they announced new partnerships with (to manufacture a series of skis with algae-based sidewalls using their proprietary AlgalTech鈩� ski materials), as well as the skin care brand .
Creating community
Although financial analysts laud the of synthetic biology to solve the world鈥檚 most difficult climate change problems, Franklin and Dimmler knew the adoption process could take time. They had to find a strategy to get consumers excited about biobased materials and bring the potential of their technology to reality. In corporate speak, they needed a passionate 鈥渆nd user.鈥� 鈥淲e needed a connection to consumers,鈥� says Franklin. 鈥淥therwise, you鈥檙e simply peddling molecules to companies.鈥�
Eager to launch a new backcountry ski that replaced petroleum-based materials with the more sustainable bio-based alternatives, they believed that the outdoor crowd would be the ideal fan base for an initial product offering. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e powerful consumers. They care just as much about how their products are made as the products themselves,鈥� he says. Checkerspot launched the brand that now makes three ski models and is getting ready to debut a snowboard line. They also recently announced that they鈥檙e working with Red Bull Athlete and backcountry snowboarder Nick Russell to refine the product. Their Intention 110 backcountry ski won a Fast Company 鈥淚nnovation by Design鈥� award in 2020, and a review by the that said, 鈥淎spen wood cores and an algal polyurethane laminate produce lively and light skis that are less tiring to ski on all day and lessen the amount of torque on a skiers鈥� knees.鈥�
Making better algae
Now the founders are seeking other applications for their materials, including stronger, lighter auto bumpers or plastics used in electronics. In the meantime, Checkerspot employs a team of molecular biologists who continue to use whole-genome sequencing and transcriptomics as tools in creating unique structural oils that enhance the performance characteristics of the materials they are making. 鈥淲e鈥檝e looked at more than a hundred strains from culture collections around the world,鈥� says Franklin. 鈥淲e have toolkits to re-design genes. But we couldn鈥檛 do this without tools provided by VR真人彩票. They provide the blueprint.鈥�
The company is currently scaling up three lead strains, says Dimmler, who is the company鈥檚 CEO. He imagines a day when algae-derived materials are commonplace. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living in such an interesting time when tools like sequencing, chemical engineering, and bioinformatics are unleashing all these capabilities that will make our lives better,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he costs are coming down, and the technology is improving. They鈥檙e making it possible to move past the twentieth century model of oil production and into a future that will be defined by biology.鈥�
