What is minoxidil, the anti-balding hair growth treatment? Here’s what the science says 
Spacesuits need a major upgrade for the next phase of exploration 
Archeoastronomy uses the rare times and places of previous total solar eclipses to help us measure history 
Six space missions to look forward to in 2024 
Why is the universe ripping itself apart? A new study of exploding stars shows dark energy may be more complicated than we thought 
Dark energy is one of the biggest puzzles in science and we're now a step closer to understanding it 
Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light 
Why now is the time to address humanity’s impact on the moon 
Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of 
Is dark matter’s main rival theory dead? There’s bad news from the Cassini spacecraft and other recent tests 
A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars 
The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup 
Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born 
How do airplanes fly? An aerospace engineer explains the physics of flight 
The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook 
Photosynthesis is the way plants convert solar energy into a source of nutrients. It’s basically how plants eat. Now, scientists figured out a way to make this process a lot more efficient, thus allowing plants to eat more and grow faster. The potential benefits that this development poses for crop yield and food production are simply astounding.
As AGWeb notes, what the scientists at the University of Illinois basically created a doped up photosynthesis process. The lead author of the study is Professor Stephen Long who specializes in crop technology. According to him, since they now proved that it can be done, it’s just a matter of actually applying the new findings to other plants.
"Now that we know it works, it won't be too difficult to do it with other crops,” Professor Long said. "If you look at crops around the world, it would (increase yield) many million tons of food."
The process works by boosting the levels of three specific proteins in the plants that are used for photosynthesis, Phys.org reports. As a result, productivity actually increased by up to 20 percent when the scientists tested it out in the field. They used tobacco plants for the test as well, which is one of the premier plants sown and harvested around the world.
Right now, the prospect of applying the technology on actual crops for increased yield isn’t a guarantee. However, since photosynthesis is something that pretty much all plant-based food sources share, it does increase the chances of success significantly.
On that note, the technology is still several years away from actually making the kind of impact that Professor Long and his team are hoping for. The soonest on estimate is likely 15 years, according to him. Then again, this development is still worth celebrating because it’s one of the biggest breakthroughs in crop science that will actually allow humans to increase food production several times over.
