San Diego’s early success in academic and industrial biotechnology research has helped to establish the region with an early lead in the fast-paced industrial development of algae-based biofuels technologies. If successful, startups such as Synthetic Genomics and Sapphire Energy could eventually replace petroleum fuels with a renewable energy industry, and transform San Diego into a world leader in renewable energy technology. Steven Briggs, a UC San Diego professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, describes how we got here and where we need to go. More information is online here.