The intensification of agricultural production in response to the global population increase and the growing demand for food has raised significant concerns regarding environmental impacts over the past few decades. Currently, modern agriculture aims to improve the quantity and quality of crop yield, minimizing the negative effects of treatments on the environment. Recently, microalgae have found extensive application as a valuable biological resource across multiple industries, including the food sector, biofuel production, and the pharmaceutical industry. In agriculture, microalgae have been seen as a promising and sustainable alternative to agrochemicals, offering a range of benefits to improve soil fertility, optimize nutrient management, and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers. In general, microalgae have demonstrated efficient nutrient cycling abilities, assimilating and converting essential nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, into forms readily available for plants. Additionally, they produce bioactive substances, including phytohormones, which have a direct impact on the physiological processes of plants and promote their growth. Microalgae can also establish beneficial interactions with other soil microorganisms, supporting the growth of beneficial bacteria and fungi, thus promoting a healthy soil microbiome. On the other hand, as photosynthetic microorganisms, microalgae harness sunlight to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into organic matter through photosynthesis. This ability allows them to sequester carbon and contribute to sustainable agriculture by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The present work provides an overview of the potential of microalgae as biofertilizers, highlighting their unique characteristics, benefits, and main limitations for effective implementation in agriculturally sustainable practices.

Breast cancer (BC) remains the most prevalent oncologic pathology in women, causing huge psychological, economic and social impacts on our society. Currently, the available diagnostic tools have limited sensitivity and specificity. Metabolome analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for obtaining information about the biological processes that occur in organisms, and is a useful platform for discovering new biomarkers or make disease diagnosis using different biofluids. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the headspace of cultured BC cells and normal human mammary epithelial cells, were collected by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC–MS), thus defining a volatile metabolomic signature. 2-Pentanone, 2-heptanone, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, ethyl acetate, ethyl propanoate and 2-methyl butanoate were detected only in cultured BC cell lines. Multivariate statistical methods were used to verify the volatomic differences between BC cell lines and normal cells in order to find a set of specific VOCs that could be associated with BC, providing comprehensive insight into VOCs as potential cancer biomarkers. The establishment of the volatile fingerprint of BC cell lines presents a powerful approach to find endogenous VOCs that could be used to improve the BC diagnostic tools and explore the associated metabolomic pathways.