A type of algae found in oceans, lakes and wet soil could be used to create a new, faster generation of computer chips, U.S. researchers suggest in a study released Monday.

Marine diatoms, a unicellular algae, build their hard, patterned cell walls with microscopic lines of silica — a compound related to silicon, which is a key material for constructing computer chips and semiconductors.

"If we can genetically control that process, we would have a whole new way of performing the nanofabrication used to make computer chips," lead researcher Michael Sussman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry professor, said in a release.

He said diatoms could vastly increase chip speed because they are capable of producing lines much smaller than what is capable with current technology. To build their cell walls, diatoms lay lines that are smaller than a micron, which is one-thousandth of a millimetre. A grain of salt measures about 60 microns.

"The semiconductor industry has been able to double the density of transistors on computer chips every few years," said Sussman. "But they are actually hitting a wall now because they're getting down to the resolution of visible light."

In the first step towards harnessing the silica-producing ability of the diatom, Sussman's team identified a set of 75 genes involved in producing and laying silica lines.

Their study appeared online in the Early Edition, in advance of the Jan. 22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team isolated the genes using a DNA chip developed in part by Sussman that allows scientists to see which genes are involved in a given cellular process. In this case, researchers looked for the genes that responded when diatoms were grown in an environment with low levels of silicic acid, the raw material used to make silica.

This data can potentially be used to manipulate the algae's genes to produce lines on computer chips.

The researchers said their findings could also be used to understand the growth and role of diatoms in nature.

Diatoms have previously been studied for their ability to soak up carbon dioxide. The cells account for more than 20 per cent of the carbon dioxide that is removed from the atmosphere each year, an amount comparable to that removed by all the planet's rainforests, the researchers said.