Back in the mid-2010s, Dr. Scott Fulbright and Dr. Stevan Albers, Ph.D. students in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program at Colorado State University, had the intriguing idea of taking biofabrication, the use of biology to grow materials, and using it for everyday products. Fulbright was standing in a greeting card aisle when the idea of formulating inks from algae came to mind.
Most inks are petrochemical-based, but using algae, a sustainable technology, to replace petroleum-derived products, would create a negative carbon footprint. Albers was able to take algae cells and turn them into a pigment, which they made into a basic screenprinting ink formulation which could be printed.
Fulbright and Albers formed Living Ink, a biomaterials company located in Aurora, CO, which has commercialized environmentally friendly black algae-based pigmented inks. Fulbright serves as Living Ink’s CEO, with Albers as the CTO.
Post time: Mar-07-2023
