Food crops made 20% more efficient at harnessing sunlight
Scientists have made a breakthrough in a genetic approach that improves food crops’ ability to harness the Sun.
Researchers developed a way to make photosynthesis – the natural process that all plants use to convert sunlight energy into food – more efficient.
The research team, which is spread across UK and US, genetically altered soybean plants, and achieved a 20% greater crop yield.
They hope this breakthrough will help alleviate food scarcity.
Lead researcher Prof Stephen Long, an agricultural scientist based at both the University of Illinois and the University of Lancaster, said that this was “the most important breakthrough” he had been involved in during his long career.
“We’ve been looking at photosynthesis and why it might be inefficient for 30 years,” he told BBC News. “There was huge scepticism that we could improve it, so showing that we can do this completely changes the ground and contributes hugely to our ability to increase global food supply.”
Directly or indirectly, all of our food comes from photosynthesis. It is a multistage chemical process, which uses energy from sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugars that fuel a plant’s growth.
These scientists tackled one small but critical part of that process: In very bright sunlight, plants switch into a protective mode and release excess energy as heat, to avoid damage to their cells. But it takes several minutes for a plant to switch out of “protective mode” and back into “fully productive growth mode”.
Agencies
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