Photosynthesis – the process by which plants, algae and some bacteria convert sunlight into energy – could serve as a new source of clean energy, according to new research.
The team of physicists, chemists and biologists at the University of Cambridge was able to study photosynthesis in live cells at an ultrafast timescale: a millionth of a millionth of a second.
Using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to study the movement of energy, the researchers found the chemicals that can extract electrons from the molecular structures responsible for photosynthesis do so at the initial stages, rather than much later, as was previously thought.
This "rewiring" of photosynthesis could improve ways in which it deals with excess energy, and create new and more efficient ways of using its power, according to the team.
“We didn’t know as much about photosynthesis as we thought we did, and the new electron transfer pathway we found here is completely surprising...