[Photosynthesis] Fundamental Breakthrough in Understanding Photosynthesis?

[Berkeley Brett]

>From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, April 12, 2007:

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/PBD-quantum-secrets.html

"Quantum Secrets of Photosynthesis Revealed"

"BERKELEY, CA -Through photosynthesis, green plants and cyanobacteria
are able to transfer sunlight energy to molecular reaction centers for
conversion into chemical energy with nearly 100-percent efficiency.
Speed is the key - the transfer of the solar energy takes place almost
instantaneously so little energy is wasted as heat. How photosynthesis
achieves this near instantaneous energy transfer is a long-standing
mystery that may have finally been solved...."

Scientific American has a news summary about this research:

http://tinyurl.com/25sfdl

or

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=ED1D1446-E7F2-99DF-3CBF8B2F66C0C5D4&chanID=sa003

As does the journal Nature (in which the full article will be
published). "Knowing how plants and bacteria harvest light for
photosynthesis so efficiently could provide a clean solution to
mankind's energy requirements. The secret, it seems, may be the
coherent application of quantum principles....":

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7137/full/446740a.html

PhysicsWeb also has a piece:

http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/11/4/10/1

Additional coverage....

Wired Science:

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/04/quantum_photosy.html

Chemical and Engineering News:

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i16/8516notw6.html

Biology News Net:

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2007/04/12/quantum_secrets_of_photosynthesis_revealed.html

LBL News:

http://www.lbl.gov/today/2007/Apr/12-Thu/4-12-07.html

Quite interesting....

--
Brett
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