How MIT researchers have used genetic mutations to improve photosynthesis efficiency

Why the abundance of RuBisCO in photosynthetic cells may come from its inefficiency

Despite pulling about 115 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to build organic molecules each year, the enzyme instead binds oxygen at least one in five times, needlessly costing cells energy. To compensate for this and its processing of no more than 10 molecules per second—versus thousands processed by a typical enzyme—it's become the most abundant enzyme on Earth.

The research pipelines being explored by the RIPE Project to improve photosynthesis

These include engineering plants with faster stomata, which would allow photosynthesis to resume more quickly amid fluctuations in available light due to clouds or shading from other plants, and resolving bottlenecks in the regeneration of RuBP, the molecule to which carbon dioxide is fixed during photosynthesis to initiate the Calvin cycle. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

How scientists are improving on photosynthesis

Researchers increased yield in soy plants by making them better at photosynthesis, the process that powers life. The findings hold promise for feeding a warming world.

How greenhouse gases and climate change impact the efficiency of photosynthesis

A review in the Journal of Experimental Botany found that higher temperatures reduce the efficiency of enzymes involved in photosynthesis and impair a plant's ability to control water loss and regulate carbon dioxide uptake. While increased carbon dioxide levels are understood to accelerate plant growth by boosting photosynthesis, researchers suggest these effects more than offset the potential gain.

CRISPR can't fix faulty mitochondria

Gene editing via CRISPR could theoretically fix many issues in biology, but editing the mitochondrial genome has remained challenging. In recent years, there has been some progress reaching these cellular powerhouses. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Genetic engineering has accelerated millennia of altering various crops' genes

Although farmers have long cross-bred crops to obtain plants with specific colors, sizes, and other characteristics, these processes took significant time. Today, genetic modification in agriculture involves scientists altering an organism's DNA for various purposes, including enhancing pathogen resistance, removing allergens, and delaying spoilage.

Explore the efficiency of photosynthesis under various conditions

In this simulation, users can track how the cellular concentrations of ATP, NADPH, glucose, and oxygen vary over time in response to changes in temperature, acidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and the properties of incoming light. Through multiple trials, users can identify the optimal conditions for photosynthetic reactions.

Bacteria have been genetically engineered to bioluminesce when wine has spoiled

Developed by researchers at Hebrew University, the method involves the firefly enzyme luciferase, which emits light from within bacteria expressing when they are in the presence of acetic acid vapors produced by wine. The process provides affordable, on-site, real-time monitoring of fermentation quality.

Artificial photosynthesis turns CO₂ into sustainable fuel

Carbon conversion focuses on a central perplexing question: if carbon dioxide is a leading driver of climate change, and fossil fuels are made of carbon-based molecules, can we devise a way to convert CO₂ into useful alternatives efficiently? This video breaks down a potential pathway using artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to convert CO₂ into fuel.

A Death Valley shrub optimizes its cells' organelles to photosynthesize in extreme heat

Examining the cellular structure of the plant under heat, scientists observed the formation of novel, cup-shaped chloroplasts and mitochondrial relocation, which shifted the plant's optimal photosynthesis temperature to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) as it tripled in mass over 10 days. Engineering these mechanisms in crops may help optimize them for hotter environments.

A look at anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, which do not produce oxygen

Rather than using water to produce organic compounds and release oxygen, purple and green sulfur bacteria take up hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and light to produce water, elemental sulfur, and a carbohydrate. Other organisms can take up various molecules and elements, such as iron, which can replenish the electrons in pigments involved in light-dependent reactions.

Genetically modified viruses can help construct battery electrodes

MIT scientists' modifications caused the viruses to attract conductive materials, such as gold ions, which the viruses self-assembled into nanowires that could be used in batteries. These components allow batteries to be thinner and flexible enough to be constructed into new shapes.

Learn how environmental conditions are optimized to increase bioremediation efficacy

Through biostimulation, Indigenous microbes are provided with moisture, nutrients, or oxygen to prevent their death and ensure optimal progression of their biochemical reactions. Bioaugmentation can introduce new microbial cultures to target specific compounds not natively found in the environment, while landfarming can spread or aerate contaminated soil to improve access to contaminants.

Scientists are using CRISPR to crossbreed heat-resistant corals amid warming reefs

Inside Australia's National Sea Simulator, coral hybrids are genetically engineered to resist the widespread coral bleaching caused by rising global temperatures. Early trials have developed groups with survival rates up to 34 percentage points higher than nonhybrids. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The Google Doodle honoring Jan Ingenhousz, who discovered oxygenic photosynthesis

Born in 1730, the Dutch scientist expanded on existing knowledge that plants produce and absorb gases in his 1779 paper, which detailed that light was necessary for the biochemical processes that produce oxygen in plant leaves. He also identified that all parts of plants produce carbon dioxide at night.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

An estimated 1% of DNA mutations in bacteria can produce more dangerous strains

Researchers have developed a technique to monitor these mutations in real time. Using this technology, scientists found that mutations occur at a steady rate, with 1% leading to potentially deadly changes.

Cells modify their internal spacing to improve biochemical reaction efficiencies

Studies involving microscopy and genetic engineering tools in yeast and human cells show ribosomes act as crowding agents—much like packing peanuts—and their concentrations are actively tuned to alter the rate of cellular functions. However, these concentrations and cell crowding levels vary across different tissues and cell types.

Before Dawkins, other biologists proposed the power of mutating ideas

Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod proposed, “Ideas have retained some of the properties of organisms. Like them, they tend to perpetuate their structure and to breed; they too can fuse, recombine, segregate their content; indeed they too can evolve, and in this evolution selection must surely play an important role.”

Scientists create the first CRISPR-modified spider to enhance its silk proteins

A research group at the University of Bayreuth used CRISPR-Cas9 to genetically modify spiders to produce glowing red silk. Spider silk is five times stronger than steel by weight, and this research paves the way for developing new silk functionalities.

The scientist that biohacked a buff frog

If a tree frog was injected with a DNA mixture containing follistatin, a gene that may influence muscle growth, would it become buff? Josiah Zayner hopes so. By learning how to biohack animals, he hopes people are one step closer to feeling more comfortable "whipping up DIY gene therapy."

Making industrial chemicals with synthetic biology

A new report forecasts that synthetic biology will transform from creating niche, environmentally friendly products to creating new molecules within the next decade.

Exploring carbon compound pore structures contributed to improved gas mask filtration

During World War II, the British Coal Utilisation Research Association sought to improve the efficiency of coal as an energy source and studied the effectiveness of charcoal filters to keep soldiers safe. Rosalind Franklin's research there formed the basis of her PhD and led to five scientific papers.

Tardigrades’ intrinsically disordered proteins may help preserve biological matter

Researchers have attempted to create more drought-resistant crops by introducing proteins that help protect tardigrades in their dehydrated tun state. The proteins’ ability to stabilize molecular degradation may allow scientists to develop refrigeration-free storage for vaccines, insulin, and blood.

Japanese scientists develop an eco-friendly plastic that dissolves in saltwater

The strong and flexible plastic is made from molecules held together by saltwater-sensitive chemical bonds. The components left after the plastic breaks down within hours contain phosphorus and nitrogen, allowing them to serve as soil fertilizer.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Twin studies helped scientists understand why mosquitoes like some of us more than others

A combination of carbon dioxide output, skin chemistry, genetic factors, hormones, and clothing choice can make us particularly vulnerable to mosquito bites. Watch how mosquitoes responded to one man in the video versus his wife, a research approach typically conducted with identical and fraternal twins to test mosquito attractiveness.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.