Electricity driving life

Using a metabolic pathway, energy-rich resources can be produced via the power of electricity. Reaction chamber in which the artificial metabolic pathway takes place. MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology/ Virginia Geisel - When nature performs chemical reactions to create energy-rich compounds from simple molecules, it requires energy. So far, it has not been possible to use human-made electricity to drive these biochemical processes. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg have achieved a breakthrough, however: they developed an artificial metabolic pathway that uses electricity to produce ATP, a biochemical energy carrier which can then be used to form energy-rich chemical compounds like starch or protein. The metabolic pathway provides a complete novel approach towards a sustainable, climate-neutral bioeconomy. Tobias Erb's team at the Max Planck Institute in Marburg is currently exploring how synthetic biology can be used to build complex resources from simple molecules.