Life’s energy currency ATP made using electricity from the grid for the first time
Simplified system uses just four enzymes with socket-supplied electrons replacing biochemical energy
For the first time the gap between manmade electricity and the biochemical energy that powers life, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), has been directly bridged using a new to nature metabolic pathway. This discovery discards the need for complex membranes and the roughly 3000 reactions used by cells to generate ATP in nature and consists of just four enzymes.