Scientists at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology reported a de novo route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO₂) for the first time.

Scientists designed a chemoenzymatic system as well as an artificial starch anabolic route consisting of only 11 core reactions to convert CO₂ into starch. The new route makes it possible to shift the mode of starch production from traditional agricultural planting to industrial manufacturing.

It also opens up a new technical route for synthesizing complex molecules from CO₂, with an efficiency 8.5-fold higher than starch biosynthesis in maize.

It provides a new scientific basis for creating biological systems with unprecedented functions.