64 THE ROLE OF ALGAE AND PLANKTON IN MEDICINE 



the growth of phytoplankton, whether one hopes to harvest the phytoplank- 

 ton as such, or whether it is planned to support a greater fish population. 

 The latter is, in fact, a wasteful process, since it has been calculated that 

 a pound of codfish ultimately represents 100,000 pounds of marine phyto- 

 plankton! 7 Before phytoplanktonic feeding becomes commonplace proced- 

 ure, there will have to be long-term human experiments, with careful 

 observation of possible toxicities and biochemical changes, especially with 

 respect to electrolytes, hemic elements, and proteins. It is also a certainty 

 that a re-education of food tastes will have to take place before the accept- 

 ability of planktonic foods reaches a high level. 310 



Some other applications of phytoplankton reach almost into the realm 

 of science fiction. Bassham, 311 at the University of California, has been 

 working for the U.S. Navy on adapting microscopic algal cultures to con- 

 trol the oxygen and carbon dioxide in atomic submarines which would 

 be submerged for long periods. It has been calculated that one kg. fresh 

 weight of Chlorella (equal to 100 liters of growing algal suspension) can 

 easily supply the 25 liters per hour oxygen required by a 70 kg. man, as 

 well as utilize the carbon dioxide exhaled by him. In a similar fashion, 

 the Department of Space Medicine of the Air Force 22 is considering using 

 algae in space ships, with the intriguing extra notion of complete recycling 

 of biological elements : the algae are also to be used as food by the space- 

 men, while their excreta will serve as nutriment for the algae ! 



From the strictly medical standpoint, the number of disease syndromes 

 attributable to algae comes rather as a surprise and raises some interesting 

 questions. The most obvious afflictions are the allergic dermatitides re- 

 sulting from bathing in water contaminated with algae. Also under- 

 standable are the respiratory irritations from water-borne or inhaled algae ; 

 in fact, many cases of allergic rhinitis (and its corollary, chronic sinusitis) 

 in coastal areas might be traceable to algae instead of being blamed on 

 "damp climate" or that handy favorite of allergists, "dust." Then there 

 are the nephropathies, and the striking epidemic gastroenteritides, so 

 blandly ascribed to the "24-hour or 48-hour virus." 



By all odds, the most dramatic algal intoxications are the acute neuro- 

 toxic and myotoxic ones typified by paralytic shellfish poisoning and some 

 other ichthyosarcotoxicoses. Although pitifully meager long-range studies 

 have been made, it seems incredible that such potent toxins should not 

 produce related chronic sequelae in victims who have survived acute 

 attacks, or who have ingested smaller amounts of toxin over prolonged 

 periods. One cannot help but wonder whether chronic algal intoxication 



