Life Beyond Sunlight
“The use of energy from sunlight by plants doing photosynthesis is the basis of life on earth” This is a quote from the Biology NCERT textbook of Class 11th. It may now be time to change this statement. Scientists from the University of California have come up with ‘Artificial Photosynthesis’ that does not require sunlight to produce food. Yes, you read it right! The technique surpasses the need for sunlight for food production and uses a twostepelectrocatalytic process that converts carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate. This scientific innovation has huge implications for the global food demand as the co-author and head of the UC Riverside Plant Transformation Research Center, Martha Orozco-Cárdenas says –”Imagine someday giant vessels growing tomato plants in the dark and on Mars — how much easier would that be for future Martians?”