- Research
- Biological Physics
- Theoretical Biological Physics
- Biophysics
Scientists have simulated every atom of a light-harvesting structure in a photosynthetic bacterium that generates energy for the organism. The simulated organelle behaves just like its counterpart in nature, the researchers report. The work is a major step toward understanding how some biological structures convert sunlight into chemical energy, a biological innovation that is essential to life.
The researchers report their findings in the journal Cell.
The team originally was led by University of Illinois Physics Professor Klaus Schulten and the work continued after Schulten’s death in 2016. The study fulfills, in part, Schulten’s decades-long dream of discovering the mechanisms by which atomic-level interactions build and animate living systems.