It is not farming, he reckons, because the algae themselves are never harvested (though it may be necessary to cull them if they become too abundant).

ECONOMIST: Biofuels from algae: Craig's twist | The

However, if patents to protect these discoveries are used to restrict other applications involving the same genes then many promising ideas for new treatments may never receive the investor support necessary to develop them and we will all be worse off.

ECONOMIST: Letters