Submission + - Chinese Scientists Synthsized Starch from Carbon Dioxide (phys.org) 1
AltMachine writes: Chinese scientists recently reported a de novo route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. Relevant results were published in Science on Sept. 24. The new route makes it possible to produce starch, a major component of grains, by industrial manufacturing instead of traditional agricultural planting and opens up a new technical route for synthesizing complex molecules from CO2. The artificial route can produce starch from CO2 with an efficiency 8.5-fold higher than starch biosynthesis in maize, suggesting a big step towards going beyond nature. It provides a new scientific basis for creating biological systems with unprecedented functions. "If the overall cost of the process can be reduced to a level economically comparable with agricultural planting in the future, it is expected to save more than 90% of cultivated land and freshwater resources," said MA Yanhe, corresponding author of the study. In addition, it would also help to avoid the negative environmental impact of using pesticides and fertilizers, improve human food security, facilitate a carbon-neutral bioeconomy, and eventually promote the formation of a sustainable bio-based society.
Yeah, newsflash: (Score:1)
This isn't the 1960s anymore. We know we can't survive on pure chemical substances, let alone on starch alone.
How long are the polymers? How much are they branching? How much B vitamins are in there, to allow us to digest and use it in the first place? Where are the bazillion other known and unknown micro-nutrients coming from? How do we create the right composition and secondary and tertiary structure with all the enzymes and everything that make us end up healthy, and not as sick as industrial carbs have