🌍 Scientists Unlock 3-Billion-Year-Old Secret of Earth’s First "Solar Panels"! ☀️
An international team has cracked a key evolutionary puzzle by decoding the structure of a light-harvesting nanodevice in one of Earth’s oldest cyanobacteria—revealing how early life mastered photosynthesis and oxygenated our planet.
🔬 The Discovery
Studied Photosystem I (PSI) in Anthocerotibacter panamensis—a "living fossil" diverging 3 billion years ago.
Unlike modern cyanobacteria (which use stacked membranes like solar panels), this ancient species performs photosynthesis in just one membrane layer.
Its PSI structure is nearly unchanged over eons: a 3-leaf clover holding 300+ light-absorbing pigments.
💡 Why It Matters
Explains how early life turned sunlight into oxygen, transforming Earth’s atmosphere.
Offers clues to evolutionary bottlenecks—why some branches thrived while others faded.
Quote from Dr. Ming-Yang Ho (Lead Author):
"We can’t time-travel to see ancient Earth, but this cyanobacterium is our window. Its simplicity shows us photosynthesis’s ‘first draft.’"
🚀 Next Steps
Scientists will now compare PSI across species to trace how photosynthesis evolved—and hunt for even older origins.
#ScienceHistory #Photosynthesis #Evolution #Cyanobacteria #OxygenRevolution #light #solar #nanodevice
Reference
Han-Wei Jiang et al, Structure and evolution of photosystem I in the early-branching cyanobacterium Anthocerotibacter panamensis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025).
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