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Scientists have genetically engineered plants to improve their photosynthesis, boosting their growth up to forty percent, promising a much needed boon to rapidly expanding food demands through population growth.
The new study and its results were published last Friday in the journal Science, reporting that the photosynthesis study that was undertaken by an international team, including those from the US Department of Agriculture.
Photosynthesis is a way that plants turn sunlight into energy. It works by converting carbon dioxide and water into sugars plants use for energy, while simultaneously producing oxygen as a byproduct. It’s an important component to life on earth.
However, during the evolutionary process of plants starting billions of years ago, as more oxygen came into the atmosphere, plants evolved to be less efficient in their photosynthesis process. Through a process known as photorespiration, plants use some of the energy they have already stored as sugar, and thus, this reduces their crop yields by about 20% to 50%.
“Photorespiration is anti-photosynthesis,” said molecular biologist Dr. Paul South, who led the international team and works at the US Department of Agriculture.
Scientists altered an enzyme called RuBisCO, which is responsible for capturing carbon dioxide molecules and sending them through to be further processed for photosynthesis. However, scientists say, that through evolution, the RuBisCO enzyme began latching on to the wrong gas by accident, creating a useless and toxic compound in the process.
To fix this, scientists found a way to move the compound outside the chloroplast, where photosynthesis occurs, and into another organelle called a peroxisome. At that point, it moves into the mitochondria, then retraces its path back to the chloroplast, but this time, in a more tolerable state
The scientists conducted field studies over a two-year period using tobacco plants. First, and greenhouse experiments, the plants achieved nearly 25% more biomass than unaltered plants.
Next, they engaged in field trials, which are considered the gold standard for testing crops. In that environment, the results were even higher. The tobacco plants that they had genetically engineered were approximately 40 percent larger than unaltered plants.
Having successfully improved the photosynthesis process of the tobacco plants, the scientists are now repeating the procedure on edible crops, which include potatoes, rice, cow peas and soybeans.
According to the scientists, if this research proves credible for edible crops, it could result in feeding an additional 200 million people in the Midwestern US alone, according to senior author of the study, plant biologist Professor Donald Ort from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Back in 1798, Thomas Malthus, an English scholar and economist famous for his concepts of population growth, developed the so-called Malthusian growth model, an exponential formula used to forecast population growth.
He predicted that population growth would always exceed food supply. So far, scientific developments have managed to prove him wrong. And with this latest achievement in photosynthesis, mankind may be able to hold off his dire predictions even longer.
The scientists said there are certain plants that the process won’t work on, because there photosynthesis processes are different. These are plants such as corn and sugarcane.
