Diatoms are incredibly sustainable organisms with expression systems that make them a promising vessel for  the sustainable production of materials such as lipids (e.g. triacylglycerol) for use in biofuels, bioactive products (e.g. omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids), and monoclonal antibodies. 

Currently, diatom research focuses on hijacking their genetic domains to control the production of these products, using their unique silica membranes for the development of new nanotechnologies, and even develop them for use in drug delivery systems​

More importantly, there is no genetic toolkit available that allows for diatoms to be used alongside more common expression systems (bacteria or yeast) with the added advantage of their photosynthetic system​