19 18 Bioreactors that use algae cells as miniature factories hold considerable potential for a climate-neutral circular economy. Aquatic algae are already extremely efficient in their natural photosynthesis outside the laboratory: they bind ten times more carbon dioxide than land plants. This figure can be increased by at least another factor of ten when the algae cultures grow in energy-optimised bioreactors, as in the automated process devised by Festo. A promising prospect for fixing carbon dioxide even more effectively is offered by so-called artificial photosynthesis. Technical approaches based on semiconductors are currently undergoing research, as is the idea of optimising the natural process by means of synthetic biology, in which entirely new meta- bolic pathways are being devised on computer. The fields of science, industry and politics are placing high expectations on this development. Used in flexible, decentralised plants around the globe, artificial photosynthesis can make a sustainable contribution to the future supply of energy and raw materials. The specialists at Festo are therefore expecting considerable increases in efficiency for bioreactors. Scientists are working on optimising the natural photosynthesis apparatus at the cellular level with the aid of so-called droplets – artificial chloroplasts. These have a diameter of around 90 micrometres and are synthetically produced; they contain components of plant organisms, enzymes and biocatalysts. As miniature reaction vessels, they are able to bind and convert carbon dioxide using light energy, just like their biological models. Their processes are 20 times more efficient than natural photosynthesis – an ideal basis for their use in the automated PhotoBionicCell from Festo. There are many ways of fitting out the droplets; the scientists are currently searching for the best combinations of components. However, a particular enzyme can be used in many different variants, in addition to the respective variants of the other modules. To facilitate and expedite the scientific work here in particular, know-how in automation, liquid handling, digitalisation and artificial intelligence is called for. The number of combinations requiring to be tested is in the order of millions and is simply too large for manual dispensing, pipetting and analysing. Natural and artificial Droplets as artificial chloroplasts Basic research meets automation PhotoBionicCell – The photo-bioreactor Can natural photosynthesis be improved?
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