Photosynthesis accounts for 98 per cent of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, the complex process by which photosynthesis splits water to release oxygen is not well understood.
The new Ultrafast Spectroscopy Laboratory in the Division of Molecular Biosciences at Imperial will help scientists study light-activated processes, like photosynthesis, by helping to reveal how the proteins involved in photosythesis are activated at a molecular level.
The lab’s three state-of-the-art laser systems can analyse the measure the vibrations of the atoms and molecules in proteins by generating intense light pulses that last for femtoseconds (0.000000000000001 seconds).
