{"id":8567,"date":"2018-06-19T09:57:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T09:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.potentialplusuk.org\/?p=8567"},"modified":"2024-12-02T17:18:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T17:18:52","slug":"going-green-literally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/index.php\/2018\/06\/19\/going-green-literally\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Green (Literally!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have met the little green men from outer space, and they are us.\u201d (Village of the Chosen<\/em>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1983, Alan Dean Foster published a science fiction story called the Village of the Chosen<\/em>.* In it people are able to photosynthesise. The utopian story held that \u201cWith our friendly alga as a partner, everyone on Earth can produce enough food for his or her own body\u2026 Everyone will be a pleasant shade of green. No more raising and slaughtering of animals for food.\u201d\u00a0 Fast forward 30 years and with the development of the field of synthetic biology (the creation, construction and controlling of simple-cell organisms) http:\/\/collinslab.mit.edu\/files\/nrm_cameron.pdf<\/a>\u00a0 and https:\/\/www.humansandnature.org\/synthetic-biology-origin-scope-and-ethics<\/a>, does this mean that the vision of photosynthesis in humans is more possible? If it were so \u2013 what would it do to global society?<\/p>\n

In photosynthesis green plants and algae absorb light energy from the sun and convert it into chemical energy. Leaf cells contain chloroplasts, which contain green chlorophyll which absorbs and is excited by the light energy which then convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen.\u00a0 Oxygen is released from the plant and the glucose is stored in carbohydrate cells for energy for growth.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”8575″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Although associated with plants, there are a few animals who are able to use photosynthesis. Corals, for example, use photosynthesis by symbiosis \u2013 they are colonies of soft bodied animals with photosynthetic dinoflagellates \u2013 single celled symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae – living within their cell tissues. \u00a0The algae provide energy and absorb nutrients for the corals, in return for a safe, nutrient-rich environment. https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/education\/tutorial_corals\/coral02_zooxanthellae.html<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”8572″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The spotted salamander\u2019s eggs grow within an algae rich jelly capsule; the algae also invade the cells of the embryos. Photosynthesis produces eggs and oxygen for the salamander embryos in return for a nitrogen rich environment for the algae.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.fllt.org\/the-symbiotic-relationship-of-algae-and-spotted-salamanders\/\u00a0<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]While a photosynthetic symbiotic relationship may be difficult for humans to maintain, we might be able to \u201chack the chlorophyll\u201d.\u00a0 At present we hack genes from one organism to another in labs https:\/\/royalsociety.org\/topics-policy\/projects\/gm-plants\/what-is-gm-and-how-is-it-done\/<\/a> \u00a0, producing genetically modified plants and animals such as bananas that carry vaccines and animals that glow-in-the-dark https:\/\/biologywise.com\/interesting-examples-of-genetic-engineering<\/a> . There is an animal that also hacks genes.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”8573″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The sea slug \u2013 Elysia chlorotica \u2013 is able to live on sunshine for months.\u00a0 It consumes algae and embeds the algae\u2019s chloroplasts into its own digestive cells. Hacking the DNA of the algae, it incorporates the algae codes for chloroplast proteins and chlorophyll synthesis into its own chromosomes.\u00a0 https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2015-02-sea-slug-genes-algae-photosynthesize.html<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Could we use a similar technique to enable humans to photosynthesise?<\/p>\n

In 2011 synthetic biologists experimented with baby zebrafish.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3080389\/<\/a> Photosynthetic bacteria was injected into zebrafish embryos.\u00a0 Although the fish didn\u2019t photosynthesise, neither did the bacteria kill them, as similar experiments with E. Coli bacteria had done. \u00a0Artificially created plant-animal hybrids may be possible.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

If we could photosynthesise, would we? What would it do to society if we were to draw our energy from the sun? <\/strong><\/p>\n

If humans were able to photosynthesise, starvation, malnutrition and food related sickness and death could potentially be eradicated. It is estimated that 815 million people around the world currently live without enough food to eat. Globally, 98% of the world\u2019s undernourished people live in developing countries and nearly half of all deaths of children under the age of five – 3 million children a year – is due to malnutrition. http:\/\/www.thp.org\/knowledge-center\/know-your-world-facts-about-hunger-poverty\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Would countries that have the highest duration of sunshine, see an upsurge in their economy and population? Or would that upsurge in population threaten the stability of a country as other resources, such as water and land to build on became even more important? Would the shift in large populations to warmer climates create further political instability and change who counted as Global Powers?<\/p>\n

Would people living in the UK move or invest in boosts of artificial light? Would energy consumption increase, especially in wintertime, with its knock-on effects on the environment \u2013 or would the energy we used to put into producing and processing food and cooking, balance out the change in need for artificial light and regulated temperature?<\/p>\n

Whole industries would change or die, with knock-on economic effects. No more time spent on food shopping, less time socialising based on food. Would it be \u201cSun-Off\u201d instead of \u201cBake-Off\u201d? Would we go to sun bars rather than restaurants or have Nutri-to-Go (nutritional supplements) instead of takeaways? Nutritional supplements would still be essential \u2013 plants do not live on photosynthesis alone.<\/p>\n

At present we intensively farm animals for food and land for crops. It is estimated, for example, that 62 million chickens are born every day around the world https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-44412495<\/a> . Without the need to eat meat there would be a serious reduction in the number of animals in existence. Without humans or animals needing cereals and crops and with far fewer animals to keep down growth in the fields, the countryside would drastically change. As natural ecosystems reverted what would the countryside look like?<\/p>\n

With the \u201cNew Order\u201d, would access to natural daylight \u2013 and the time to absorb it \u2013 define the haves and have-nots of the world?<\/p>\n

The reality is that, even if we could photosynthesise, it is unlikely that humans could live on photosynthesis (and nutrient supplements) alone. The genetic engineering required to allow a human to accept chloroplast genes would be extreme; a large surface area to volume ratio is needed to capture light energy https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/education\/guides\/z8dpqhv\/revision\/1<\/a> and human behaviour would have to change radically even if we became solar couch potatoes \u2013 trees only store about 200 calories in glucose a day. We use far too much energy to gain it all from photosynthesis. https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/askscience\/comments\/2fb2uz\/have_we_ever_measured_the_caloric_intake_of_a_tree\/<\/a><\/p>\n

If photosynthesis could become a reality, it is more likely to be as an \u201cenergy supplement\u201d. A boost when we need to heal, or perhaps when we are playing sports, or perhaps, in some countries, the difference between someone dying of hunger and surviving until the new harvests are in. If photosynthesis were available on those terms, would you go green?<\/p>\n

Anyone for a little \u201clight\u201d supper?<\/p>\n

*Alan Dean Foster, Village of the Chosen<\/strong> published in The Best of Omni<\/em> 1983, and a volume of short stories \u2026Who Needs Enemies<\/em> 1984.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator border_width=”2″ css=””][vc_column_text css=””]About the Author:<\/strong> Geraldine Glover is Potential Plus UK’s Community Information Coordinator. She is a Chartered Information Professional with a background in editorial work and information science. She is the mother of two children with high learning potential.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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