Darlene Angel Grace Miranda

In a groundbreaking leap for biology, Chinese scientists have reprogrammed Escherichia coli (E. coli) — a non-photosynthetic gut bacterium– into a sunlight-harnessing organism.


This remarkable scientific breakthrough pushes the boundaries of synthetic biology, offering a glimpse into a future where microbes act as sustainable powerhouses for energy production and carbon-neutral biomanufacturing.

By unlocking the photosynthetic potential of E. coli, researchers have opened a new frontier in microbial engineering, gearing to achieve sustainable energy through modified biological systems.

Center to photosynthesis is the capture of light energy by chlorophyll, which drives chemical reactions in plants’ chloroplasts or bacteria’s membranes, producing energy-rich molecules like ATP and NADPH to power carbon fixation and support life.

Photosynthesis occurs in two stages—light-dependent reactions and dark reactions for carbon fixation—but natural photosynthesis faces inefficiencies and resource competition, limiting energy production.

While E. coli does not possess natural photosynthetic abilities, its innate genetic flexibility makes it an ideal candidate for genetic engineering experiments aimed at incorporating photosynthesis.

“However, integrating photosynthesis into non-photosynthetic microbes to utilize one-carbon substrates is challenging,” one researcher noted, referring to the difficulties of adapting photosynthesis in microbes like E. coli.

Despite the challenges, the team successfully developed a system that enabled E. coli to perform both light-dependent and dark reactions, a groundbreaking achievement in microbial engineering.

The team reported a 338% increase in ATP and a 383% increase in NADH during the light reaction, with the engineered E. coli showing a doubling time of 19.86 hours, indicating robust growth.

This synthetic photosynthetic system not only mimics the fundamental functions of natural photosynthesis but also offers improvements in energy production and carbon utilization.

“In the future, we will try to build artificial photosynthetic systems in microorganisms such as yeast and even large medicinal bacteria, ” one of the researchers, Liu Gaoqiang said.

The future of these engineered microbes is bright—quite literally—as researchers continue to shine a light on their potential to become renewable energy powerhouses and catalysts for global sustainability.