ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2026-01-11 04:45 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2026-01-11 04:45 pm
Entry tags:
Science
New form of 'artificial metabolism' converts CO2 into biological building blocks
Researchers built the Reductive Formate Pathway, called the ReForm pathway, to convert CO2 into acetyl-CoA outside living cells. Acetyl-CoA is a small but essential molecule your cells use to turn food into energy. When your body breaks down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, it often funnels the results into acetyl-CoA. From there, acetyl-CoA carries a tiny chemical package called an acetyl group into the citric acid cycle, where your cells “burn” it. That process releases energy, and your body captures it to help make ATP, the main energy currency that powers cellular work.
This study shows how engineered enzymes, electricity-derived carbon feedstocks, and cell-free systems can be combined to recycle CO2 into useful chemical building blocks, while avoiding the limits of living cells and pointing toward new ways to make materials with lower carbon footprints.
That's good news for climate change.
However, it's also a step in most food replicator technologies, for those of you keeping an eye on that track.
Researchers built the Reductive Formate Pathway, called the ReForm pathway, to convert CO2 into acetyl-CoA outside living cells. Acetyl-CoA is a small but essential molecule your cells use to turn food into energy. When your body breaks down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, it often funnels the results into acetyl-CoA. From there, acetyl-CoA carries a tiny chemical package called an acetyl group into the citric acid cycle, where your cells “burn” it. That process releases energy, and your body captures it to help make ATP, the main energy currency that powers cellular work.
This study shows how engineered enzymes, electricity-derived carbon feedstocks, and cell-free systems can be combined to recycle CO2 into useful chemical building blocks, while avoiding the limits of living cells and pointing toward new ways to make materials with lower carbon footprints.
That's good news for climate change.
However, it's also a step in most food replicator technologies, for those of you keeping an eye on that track.
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