Proteins produced by DNA recombinant technology have been playing important roles in modern medicine ever since the first such protein drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about three decades ago. However the inherent high cost of producing recombinant proteins, particularly those produced from mammalian cells, has hampered their broad application. Other protein expression systems that can reduce the cost yet still maintain the high-level therapeutic activities of the recombinant proteins are a top R&D priority. Eukaryotic unicellular green algae cells may provide a good solution to this long-standing challenge.