Ultimately the development could lead to new strategies for harnessing solar power. Related research could lead to higher crop yields, imaging agents for the earlier detection of cancerous tumors, and faster, smaller electronic circuits. But it does not power anything on its own. You have to convert it into some other kind of energy. Plants do this through a fairly complicated process.
Artificial photosynthesis offers a simpler alternative.
But our system has several thousand fewer parts. Fewer atoms, that is. In agriculture, scientists could use their knowledge of photosynthesis to adapt plants for specific purposes, Gust explains. For example, crops could be tailored to resist herbicides or to grow more efficiently. The world of medicine offers another opportunity to apply the group's basic research.