A US company says it has developed a process that could produce insulin from algae that can be grown in oceans.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the process for use in algae-based products in April.

“This is a major step toward producing insulin from the natural world,” the company, Sulfur One, said in a statement.

“We believe this technology can provide significant benefits to the global community.”

The process involves taking sugar from seaweeds and converting it to hydrogen sulfide, which is the chemical form of insulin.

SulfurOne said it hopes to begin commercial production of its process by the end of the year.