That's what watchmaker Jonathan Dillon told his family in the late 19th century.

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Then its founders, Jonathan Wolfson and Harrison Dillon, asked themselves whether it might not be cheaper to ignore the photosynthetic step, buy the sugar that photosynthesis produces instead, and concentrate on getting the algae to turn it into oil.

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Founded in 2003 by Jonathan Wolfson, a financial entrepreneur, and genetic microbiologist Harrison Dillon, Solayzme began talking to the Department of Defense in 2007.

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