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Top 10 scientific achievements of 2021 in China

By Wang Yiming: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, December 30, 2021

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# Synthetic starch

A photo taken on Sept. 23, 2021, shows a scene of the press conference. Chinese scientists have developed an artificial method of synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, the first of its kind globally. The study, conducted by the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the journal Science. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Sept. 23, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced an artificial method of synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, the first of its kind globally.

Starch is mainly synthesized by green plants by fixing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, which involves more than 60 biochemical reactions as well as complex physiological regulation.

In order to improve efficiency, researchers from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the CAS designed a new artificial starch synthesis pathway consisting of only 11 core reactions to convert carbon dioxide into starch in the laboratory. The starch synthesis rate of this artificial route is 8.5 times that of corn starch.