Max Planck Society Boosts Photosynthesis for Carbon Capture

The Max Planck Society will launch two new research groups on July 1, 2025, to make photosynthesis more efficient for CO2 capture and utilization.

• One group, led by Adrian Bunzel at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, will develop artificial photoenzymes using computational protein design and directed evolution to simplify and boost photosynthesis efficiency.
• The second group, led by Andreas Küffner at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, will focus on genetically modifying cyanobacteria to accumulate and fix more CO2 in their cells, aiming to circumvent natural limitations.

The research aims to contribute to a mix of strategies for global decarbonization by enabling the production of sustainable chemicals and biofuels from captured carbon.