[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","@id":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/scientists-create-artificial-leaves-that-can-serve-as-mini-factory-for-drugs\/#ScholarlyArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/scientists-create-artificial-leaves-that-can-serve-as-mini-factory-for-drugs\/","headline":"Scientists Create Artificial Leaves That Can Serve As \u2018Mini-Factory\u2019 For Drugs","name":"Scientists Create Artificial Leaves That Can Serve As \u2018Mini-Factory\u2019 For Drugs","description":"A garden filled with \u201cplants\u201d that manufacture medicines on demand might sound like an idea straight out of the fevered imagination of a science fiction writer, but a team of Dutch researchers has now taken the first step toward making it real. In a study, published Thursday in the journal Angewandte Chemie, researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology described","datePublished":"2016-12-22","dateModified":"2018-03-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/author\/syndicated\/#Person","name":"Syndicated","url":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/author\/syndicated\/","identifier":3,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/899362aa862832b75c0d0a9a7a5a4289460381a95b120e6b6b253507647f9f87?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/899362aa862832b75c0d0a9a7a5a4289460381a95b120e6b6b253507647f9f87?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Global Trade Funding","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/files\/wp-content\/uploads\/Global-Trade-Funding-Text-Logo-220x60.png","url":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/files\/wp-content\/uploads\/Global-Trade-Funding-Text-Logo-220x60.png","width":600,"height":60}},"url":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/scientists-create-artificial-leaves-that-can-serve-as-mini-factory-for-drugs\/","about":["Agriculture and Commodities","Industry","International Trade"],"wordCount":429,"articleBody":"A garden filled with \u201cplants\u201d that manufacture medicines on demand might sound like an idea straight out of the fevered imagination of a science fiction writer, but a team of Dutch researchers has now taken the first step toward making it real.In a study, published Thursday in the journal Angewandte Chemie, researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology described the creation of a \u201cmini-factory\u201d of drugs contained within artificial leaves. These structures, which don\u2019t necessarily need to be shaped like leaves, utilize the unique characteristics of luminescent solar concentrators\u00a0(LSCs) \u2014 materials capable of capturing sunlight much like real leaves, converting it to a specific color, and guiding it to where it’s needed.\u201cUsing sunlight to make chemical products has long been a dream of many a chemical engineer. The problem is that the available sunlight generates too little energy to kick off reactions,\u201d the Eindhoven University of Technology said in a statement released Wednesday. \u201cHowever, nature is able to do this. Antenna molecules in leaves capture energy from sunlight and collect it in the reaction centers of the leaf where enough solar energy is present for the chemical reactions that give the plant its food.\u201dIn order to recreate this process using synthetic materials, the researchers created very thin channels in a silicon rubber LSC through which the chemicals needed to manufacture the drugs were pumped. The LSC then amplified\u00a0the sunlight intensity to such an extent that it triggered\u00a0a chemical reaction in the liquids flowing through the channels \u2014 the raw materials enter from one side, light causes the reactions, and the end product, the required drug, comes out through the other channels.\u201cEven an experiment on a cloudy day demonstrated that the chemical production was 40 percent higher than in a similar experiment without LSC material,\u201d lead researcher Timothy No\u00ebl said in the statement. \u201cWe still see plenty of possibilities for improvement. We now have a powerful tool at our disposal that enables the sustainable, sunlight-based production of valuable chemical products like drugs or crop protection agents.\u201dAlthough the experiment is still largely in its proof-of-concept stage and it would be years before it can be scaled up to a level where it\u2019s economically viable and efficient, the researchers believe\u00a0that by using visible light, the reactions needed to manufacture drugs can become much cheaper and countless times faster.\u201cUsing a reactor like this means you can make drugs anywhere, in principle, whether malaria drugs in the jungle or paracetamol on Mars. All you need is sunlight and this mini-factory,\u201d No\u00ebl\u00a0said."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Scientists Create Artificial Leaves That Can Serve As \u2018Mini-Factory\u2019 For Drugs","item":"https:\/\/globaltradefunding.com\/news\/scientists-create-artificial-leaves-that-can-serve-as-mini-factory-for-drugs\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]