Predicted World Hunger Can Be Solved Through Modified Photosynthesis

The world is facing so many problems lately -- of those would be the global warming and overpopulation. Now, to solve this phenomenon, the scientists conducted a study among plants and found that photosynthesis can lead to more crop yields and can feed more mouths.

It has been predicted that the world's population could rise up to 9.7 billion by 2050. It gives fear to most of the scientists that overpopulation and global warming can cause serious problems. As the number of humans increases, there might be not enough food supply to feed everybody.

The scientists conducted an experiment that might solve the predicted problems. They hacked the process in the photosynthesis. It is a process in which the sunlight is being used by the plants to convert the water and the carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen.

According to Science, during the process, the scientists found a new way on how to make the plants soak up the Sun faster that could result in better crop yields.

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that there is a possibility to increase the productivity of genetically modified tobacco plants. Through boosting the levels of three proteins involved in the photosynthesis process, the yield can increase between 14 to 20 percent, according to Mail Online.

The benefits of producing extra tobacco plants might not be agreeable to many. The researchers have chosen the plant as it can be modified easily. However, the scientists confirm that photosynthesis can be modified and resulted in increasing plant yield. The research was doubted before by some of the scientific community.

This process could be a breakthrough in the field of plant study. Plant biology and crop sciences at the University of Illinois Professor Stephen Long, who also in the study is the lead author, said, "We don't know for certain this approach will work in other crops, but because we're targeting a universal process that is the same for all crops. We're pretty sure it will," as quoted by Phys.Org.