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Current projections for the crop mix in the Bio-Plex and the future Lunar bioregenerative life support system indicate that without supplemental oil production, the crew's diet will be extremely low in fat, with little refined oil available for food processing or preparation. Although soybeans, peanuts and dwarf brassica (similar to canola) have been suggested as oil crops, each one poses significant problems either in horticulture, harvesting, productivity or byproduct utilization. An alternative to plant oils is “single-cell oil” or SCO. Lipid-accumulating “oleaginous” micro-organisms may accumulate up to 60% of their dry weight as triglycerides. Their high growth rates enable them to synthesize lipids with far greater productivity than higher plant systems. The current top candidate species for use in a bioregenerative system is a yeast, Cryptococcus curvatus.