China has, for the first time, achieved the artificial synthesis of starch, which could have a revolutionary impact on future food production!
Can carbon dioxide be used to synthesize starch? In response to this seemingly fantastical question, Chinese scientists have, after more than six years of intensive research, provided a definitive and detailed answer. Following their pioneering achievement in the 1960s—the world’s first artificial synthesis of crystalline bovine insulin—Chinese researchers have now made another major, groundbreaking, and original breakthrough in synthetic starch production: they have, for the first time internationally, demonstrated the de novo synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide in the laboratory.
A groundbreaking paper detailing a major scientific breakthrough in the artificial synthesis of starch, led by the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was published online in the prestigious international journal Science in the early hours of September 24, Beijing time, thereby “opening a window” for the industrial-scale production of starch from carbon dioxide.
The starch synthesis rate of this artificial pathway is 8.5 times that of corn, marking a major step toward realizing the goals of designing nature and transcending it. It provides a new scientific foundation for constructing bio‑systems with novel functions and paves the way for synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, potentially enabling the industrial-scale bioproduction of starch in the future.
Industry experts say that if the cost of the artificial synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide can be reduced to a level economically viable compared with agricultural cultivation, it would save more than 90% of arable land and freshwater resources, mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of pesticides and fertilizers, help build a sustainable bio-based society, and enhance global food security. Meanwhile, recent research has successfully demonstrated an integrated chemical–biological pathway for artificial starch synthesis—known as ASAP—that uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced via electrolysis in a cell-free system, offering a new approach to advancing the technological roadmap for achieving the “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” goals.
The Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, explains that starch is the primary component of food and also an important industrial feedstock. Currently, starch is mainly produced by crops such as corn through natural photosynthesis, which fixes carbon dioxide. Starch synthesis and accumulation involve more than 60 metabolic reactions and complex physiological regulatory mechanisms, with a theoretical energy conversion efficiency of only about 2%. Crop cultivation typically requires long growing cycles and consumes substantial resources, including large tracts of land, freshwater, and agricultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. Food security and climate change pose major challenges to humanity, making the sustainable supply of food starch and the conversion and utilization of carbon dioxide strategic priorities for global scientific and technological innovation. Designing artificial biological systems to fix carbon dioxide and synthesize starch without relying on plant photosynthesis represents a groundbreaking, world‑changing disruptive technology.
Since 2015, the institute has focused on the artificial synthesis of starch and the biological conversion and utilization of carbon dioxide, conducting demand-driven scientific and technological research. By pooling innovation resources both within and outside the institute and strengthening the integration of “discipline–task–platform,” it has achieved the organic convergence and efficient collaboration of diverse research forces. The institute has assembled an outstanding team of young scientists with an average age of 30 at its inception and has been steadily advancing the research and development of the artificial starch‑synthesis project for six consecutive years.
A team of young scientists has designed from scratch a novel, 11-step pathway for the non‑natural fixation of carbon dioxide and the artificial synthesis of starch, achieving for the first time in the laboratory the complete synthesis of starch molecules starting from carbon dioxide. Adopting a “building‑block” approach, they collaborated with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to use chemical catalysts to reduce high‑concentration carbon dioxide into C1 compounds under the action of high‑density hydrogen energy. They then engineered a new enzyme capable of catalyzing C1 polymerization, leveraging the principles of chemical polysaccharide reactions to assemble the C1 compounds into C3 compounds. Finally, through biological pathway optimization, they further polymerized the C3 compounds into C6 compounds, which were subsequently converted into linear and branched starch (Cn compounds).
The team has also pioneered bioprocess technologies that couple chemical catalysis with biocatalytic modules, enabling the efficient utilization of high‑density energy and concentrated carbon dioxide. By optimizing reaction kinetics through spatiotemporal separation, they have addressed key challenges in artificial pathways—such as substrate competition, product inhibition, and thermodynamic–kinetic mismatches—thereby expanding the capabilities of artificial photosynthesis. Based on current technical parameters, under conditions of ample energy supply, a 1‑cubic‑meter bioreactor could theoretically produce an annual starch yield equivalent to that obtained from cultivating corn on 5 mu of land (calculated using China’s average corn starch yield per mu). This breakthrough makes it possible to shift starch production from conventional agricultural cultivation to an industrial‑scale manufacturing process, while also opening up new technological avenues for synthesizing complex molecules from carbon dioxide feedstocks.
Chinese scientists have achieved a major, groundbreaking breakthrough in the artificial synthesis of starch, which has been highly praised by both domestic and international peers. They regard it as a “paradigmatic 0-to-1 original breakthrough,” a “significant advance that expands and elevates the frontiers of research on artificial photosynthesis,” and a scientific achievement of “groundbreaking, world‑changing significance.” It is expected to “not only revolutionize future agricultural production—especially food production—but also mark a milestone for the global bio‑manufacturing industry,” and “will bring transformative impacts to next‑generation bio‑manufacturing and agricultural production.”
