No, they don’t exactly have a good reputation. No wonder. For in some places on our planet they develop into a real plague through their sometimes massive appearance. They damage the immediate environment, are even dangerous and have far-reaching consequences such as oxygen depletion for other organisms in water bodies (“dead zones”) or a decline in tourism. For science, on the other hand, they are an extremely exciting field of research. And from an entrepreneurial point of view, they are even regarded as the raw material of the future. Exactly, they are algae, which at first glance combine these partly contrary potentials. The second and last part of the two-part blog article deals with the possible uses of algae in science and industry.