Bioengineers made mutant, solar-powered hamster cells

Share Researchers say they have successfully cultivated animal cells that draw energy through photosynthesis. Previously believed impossible, experts accomplished the first-of-its-kind feat thanks to two main ingredients: red algae, and hamster cells. Plants use photosynthesis to derive much of their energy through cells filled with chlorophyll—called chloroplasts—that convert sunlight into life-sustaining power. Animals, on the other hand, aren’t naturally capable of generating chloroplasts. Most experts agreed it wasn’t possible to bioengineer hybrid cells to allow creatures to obtain energy or nutrients (other than vitamin D) from the sun. According to…

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