Looking through the unused potential of Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis as defined in most high school and elementary textbooks is the food
making process of plants. This pivotal biological reaction helps in providing the food we
intake and the oxygen we breathe, also, helps in removing the carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.
Photosynthesis in algae and in plants are consists of two reactions called light-reaction
and dark reaction. In light reaction, light energy is being absorbed from the sun and uses
this to split water into protons, electrons and oxygen. While in the dark reaction, utilizes the
electrons and protons from the light reaction to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into
the basis of the food chain which is the simple sugars.
According to Dr Adokiye Berepiki, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow from Ocean and
Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton, and co-author of the study, they used the
synthetic biology method to engineer additional enzyme in-between the light reactions and
before the dark reactions. They rewired photosynthesis in a way that more light will be
absorbed to be used to power useful chemical reactions.
By combining engineering, science and technology, a synthetic approach, the
researchers accelerate and facilitate the design, manufacture and modified genetic materials
in living organisms. By introducing an enzyme from a brown rat into the photosynthetic
machinery, they were able to rewired electrons. Rather than being taken from the rat, they
use chemical synthesis to produce de novo to produce the enzyme. This enzyme act as an
electron sink that uses photosynthesis electrons to power its activity.
On the other hand, there are other recent research that focuses on the potential of using
photosynthesis species as source of sustainable biofuels. According to professor Tom
Bibby, co-author of the study, The added value that they have introduced into the algae may
be a critical step toward the commercial realization of utilizing photosynthesis special to
generate biofuels that probably can replace the current dependence on fossil fuels.
Image Source:
(1)http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/172329-attempting-to-understand-the-
most-important-chemical-reaction-on-the-planet-photosynthesis
(2)http://www.majordifferences.com/2013/12/difference-between-light-and-
dark.html