The new artificial photosynthesis bypasses the need for biological photosynthesis and creates food independently of sunlight.
News known days ago revolutionized the international scientific community: scientists from the University of California and the University of Delaware have found a way to avoid the need for biological photosynthesis and create food independently of sunlight through artificial photosynthesis, something that reshapes the future of food production. The new hybrid artificial photosynthesis combines inorganic and biological systems, both for cultivation on lunar bases and Martian greenhouses and for increasing agricultural productivity on Earth.
The new system is 18 times more efficient than natural photosynthesis in converting sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into food and could help meet the growing demand for foods without expanding available agricultural land.
The results of the study, published in the journal Natural foodwas obtained by a group of researchers led by the American universities of California, Riverside, and Delaware, Newark, who demonstrated the innovative method by cultivating organisms such as yeast, algae and fungi, used in food production, and a series of plants among them rice, tomatoes, canola, beans, tobacco and peas.
The new artificial photosynthesis system uses the electricity generated by photovoltaic panels to convert water and CO2 into oxygen and acetate, an organic molecule very common in living organisms and rich in carbon.
The new artificial photosynthesis was tested on algae, yeast and fungi.
The acetate It is used as a key ingredient for grow in the dark, or independently of natural photosynthesis, by organisms and plants. Previous studies had analyzed the possible use of other molecules as carbon sources, for example formate or methanol, which however showed an important limit: their metabolism also produces formaldehyde, which is toxic.
Acetate, on the other hand, is more readily metabolized by a wide range of organisms. without producing harmful compounds.
The researchers, led by Elizabeth Hann and Marcus Harland-Dunaway of the University of California, e Sean Overaof the University of Delaware, demonstrated the efficiency of the method by culturing three organisms: the green algae Photosynthetic chlamydomonas, already used as a food fortifier, and which has been shown to have a positive effect on gastrointestinal health, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, widely used for the production of food and beverages, e mushrooms.
All organisms have shown that they are able to exploit acetate as a source of energy, bypassing biological photosynthesis.
Some photosynthetic processes involve letting in the appropriate wavelengths to allow plants to photosynthesize.
To further evaluate the potential of the hybrid artificial systemthe researchers analyzed the growth of various crops under controlled conditions and in the dark and observed that the artificially produced acetate is readily incorporated into the tissues of the growing plants
Meanwhile, most cultivated plants can convert sunlight and CO2 into food with an efficiency of 11% or less, the new system can reach 25%.
“With our approach, we sought a new way of producing food that could overcome the limits that biological photosynthesis normally imposes,” said the corresponding author. Robert Jinkersonassistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UC Riverside.
Source: Clarin
