Published in ERW, 23 Jan 2014
Physicists in the UK claim to have shown unambiguously that the high efficiency of photosynthesis is driven at least partly by a purely quantum-mechanical phenomenon. Their work could lead to discoveries of other quantum processes in biology, or help in the development of new and better technologies for harvesting solar energy.
Arguably the most important chemical reaction on Earth, photosynthesis allows a plant to harness sunlight by converting carbon dioxide and water into energy-rich carbohydrates. For the most part, this takes place in chlorophyll molecules, which are arranged such that neighbouring molecules have different energy levels. When light shines on one of these molecules, an electron is momentarily excited before passing its energy over to a nearby molecule with a slightly lower energy level. In this way, energy can flow “downhill” from energy level to energy level, via different routes, until it reaches a reaction centre where actual photosynthesis occurs. […]
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