The field of artificial photosynthesis has taken a major leap forward, thanks to the development of a hybrid system that could one day reduce our dependence on nonrenewable energy. Christopher Chang of the University of California, Berkeley was part of a team that developed this breakthrough hybrid system. It combines nanotechnology and living organisms to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into valuable chemical products.

"What we've done is we've replaced the concept of a leaf, with two things. One is a nanotechnology platform that will allow us to do the light harvesting. And then, instead of using the rest of the infrastructure of the leaf to carry out the chemical reactions that form biomass, what we've done is we've invented an integrated system in which we can replace that leaf with fermentable bacteria, in this case, that will allow you to produce, not biomass, but any sort of chemical product that you would want …".

Including, Chang says, biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs and even liquid fuels.