Can Humans Harvest The Sun's Energy Directly Like Plants?

 

 Photo Credit:http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module19/images/Photosynthesis.jpg


'Much like photosynthesis in plants, can human beings utilize light and water for their energy needs? New evidence suggests that it may be happening right now in each cell of your body.

In response to the title question, my answer is a definite "maybe."

On the positive side, a recently published paper by Herrera et al. (1) argues that the answer is yes. The authors pinpoint melanin as the central player in the drama of photosynthesis, arguing that melanin, a black substance prominent in certain tissues, absorbs all visible wavelengths. 

Those concentrated photons could then drive the photosynthetic process in the same way as photons do in green plants and many single celled organisms.'

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