The idea is to cut out photosynthesis from the food chain. I mean, we have hydroponics, but those require nutrient washes which AFAIK still rely on plants which means it’s still susceptible to environmental damage/collapse. As well, using energy to power special light bulbs just to convert them back into energy in a plant is kind of silly imo.
Take the biosynthesis of Vitamin A for example; the reaction that produces it is catalyzed by an enzyme called retinal dehydrogenase which uses NAD+ to remove the hydrogens from retinal (hence the name!) and produces retinoic acid (AKA Vitamin A). Without the enzyme this reaction can still happen, just it would take millions of years to produce one molecule (catalysis).
The NAD+ is turned into an NADH (NAD+ is like an empty dump truck, NADH now has the hydrogen and the electron from the reactant), but the NAD+ was ‘created’ via photosynthesis (I still don’t know exactly where the NAD+ comes from), so my goal, as it were, is to create standardized set of reactions to produce compounds like Vitamin A in standard conditions (room temp and pressure). The enzymes themselves are created in different ways, perhaps directly after transcription (from the RNA polymerase (RNAp)) or afterwards when two clumps of proteins are brought together somehow (enzymes making enzymes?).
In short, I want to create a “cellular matrix” in like a steel chamber or something. The electrons produced by photosynthesis would instead come from, say, a solar panel or whatever; then one would just have to supply normal air (with nitrogen) and water, to create their food instead of attempting to grow plants in increasingly non-viable conditions. I imagine it producing something like tofu that also has all the nutrients and sugars one would need for the day. This still might require as much land as a factory, but it could also be just another appliance one can have in their kitchen.
There is certainly a whole lot of issues to overcome, most I don’t even know about right now, but if it works people won’t have to rely entirely on capitalist systems to feed themselves. Hopefully not at all.
Also this is like the first time I’ve written it out. Some things I haven’t studied in a while (or at all really), so they might not be exactly right.
![[discussion] we have officially entered uncharted territory](https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/65e15205-88bf-4496-96e2-5e654f0d4724.webp){kind=link}
This sounds interesting. Could you share an example of how that works?
The idea is to cut out photosynthesis from the food chain. I mean, we have hydroponics, but those require nutrient washes which AFAIK still rely on plants which means it’s still susceptible to environmental damage/collapse. As well, using energy to power special light bulbs just to convert them back into energy in a plant is kind of silly imo.
Take the biosynthesis of Vitamin A for example; the reaction that produces it is catalyzed by an enzyme called retinal dehydrogenase which uses NAD+ to remove the hydrogens from retinal (hence the name!) and produces retinoic acid (AKA Vitamin A). Without the enzyme this reaction can still happen, just it would take millions of years to produce one molecule (catalysis).
The NAD+ is turned into an NADH (NAD+ is like an empty dump truck, NADH now has the hydrogen and the electron from the reactant), but the NAD+ was ‘created’ via photosynthesis (I still don’t know exactly where the NAD+ comes from), so my goal, as it were, is to create standardized set of reactions to produce compounds like Vitamin A in standard conditions (room temp and pressure). The enzymes themselves are created in different ways, perhaps directly after transcription (from the RNA polymerase (RNAp)) or afterwards when two clumps of proteins are brought together somehow (enzymes making enzymes?).
In short, I want to create a “cellular matrix” in like a steel chamber or something. The electrons produced by photosynthesis would instead come from, say, a solar panel or whatever; then one would just have to supply normal air (with nitrogen) and water, to create their food instead of attempting to grow plants in increasingly non-viable conditions. I imagine it producing something like tofu that also has all the nutrients and sugars one would need for the day. This still might require as much land as a factory, but it could also be just another appliance one can have in their kitchen.
There is certainly a whole lot of issues to overcome, most I don’t even know about right now, but if it works people won’t have to rely entirely on capitalist systems to feed themselves. Hopefully not at all.
Also this is like the first time I’ve written it out. Some things I haven’t studied in a while (or at all really), so they might not be exactly right.