A great article by Gemma Venhuizen, published in the Dutch national newspaper NRC, highlights an exciting question: Can we streamline the inherently messy process of photosynthesis to help crops use sunlight more efficiently? The article shows just how many levers plants could adjust… if only evolution had a bit more engineering capacity.

Why this matters

Feeding 9 billion people by 2050 without exhausting the planet? It will require crops that handle drought, rain, heat, poor soils — and above all, use sunlight far more efficiently. But as the article points out, photosynthesis is far from perfect: a patchwork of pigments, enzymes and protective mechanisms that don’t always work together smoothly.

Can researchers streamline photosynthesis?

• Biophysicists explore how plants could be manipulated to use a broader range of light — especially far-red, inspired by cyanobacteria.

• Geneticists search thousands of plant genes to improve for instance protective mechanisms (like non-photochemical quenching) and select plants that perform more efficient quenching.

• Rubisco researchers try to upgrade the speed and efficiency of world’s most important — and slowest — enzyme, responsible for huge energy losses.

• Field technologists (including our own team at the Jan Ingenhousz Institute) test plants under real conditions, because one gust of wind or passing cloud can change the whole photosynthetic balance.

At JII, we see the urgency to push the boundaries: tools, sensors, open-source technologies, and data-driven models that help understand how plants really behave in shifting, messy, real-world environments.

For anyone interested in the future of sustainable agriculture, the article 'Lichtpuntjes in de duisternis: hoe stroomlijn je de rommelige fotosynthese?' (in Dutch) offers a wonderfully clear overview of the scientific frontier — and the scale of the challenge.