Xoma, which develops technology for algae cultivation, has, following discussions with an international company in the electronic components industry, decided to launch a project through Algonova Bio to investigate the possibility of biologically producing high-purity, chip-grade silicon.The project will evaluate the cultivation of diatoms, as well as the harvesting and extraction of biogenic silicon using Algonova Bio's CLAS technology. The company believes that silicon from algae may contain significantly lower levels of impurities than conventional silicon.The project is in an early development phase and no binding agreements have been entered into. No financial details have been provided.