10 S. H. HUTNER 



of Chlorella or of any other alga comes perilously close to ex- 

 hausting the supply of pertinent information on the inorganic 

 requirements for growth. The assessment of the food value of an 

 alga depends on feeding tests with animals. Because B12 is nearly 

 lacking in higher plants, and is therefore frequently a limiting 

 factor in those rations for animals which are based on plant 

 sources of protein, the choice of a food alga is by no means 

 simple ; the biological value of other constituents of the alga must 

 also be taken into account. The compelling needs of modern bio- 

 logical technologies heighten the necessity of lowering the bar- 

 riers of academic jurisdiction which separate the various branches 

 of biology. 



Conclusions 



The growing of algae means more than micro-horticulture 

 under academic botanical auspices: it helps fashion instruments 

 for probing into cell physiology — the common point of departure 

 for attacking such diverse problems as the nature of photosyn- 

 thesis and of neoplastic growth. To accomplish this, the terms 

 taxonomist and experimentalist must cease to be mutually exclu- 

 sive; the blending begun in the field of genetics must be extended 

 to cell physiology. Then both will make the best use of the organ- 

 isms available in nature. The taxonomist through participation 

 in these enterprises stands to gain new criteria of evolutionary 

 relationships and new insights. Such studies provide a firmer 

 basis also for the technological development of algae as food. 



