Page 50 - The Microworld Miracle

ed, some of which are not yet been fully understood, some of which
remain undiscovered, and only some of which have been replicat-
ed in modern laboratories.
Bacteria head the list of the chemists serving in this giant lab-
oratory. The most important functions are carried out by these uni-
cellular machines, regarded as simple and primitive by evolution-
ists. For bacteria, reactions that even the cleverest chemists cannot

solve, and processes that not even the most advanced technology
can replicate, are child's play. The scientists who discovered photo-
synthesis—the process of producing nutrients using carbon dioxide
from the air and water—were amazed by it, and imagined that by
decoding the system, they would find an answer to all the problems
facing mankind. Yet decades have since gone by, and still the sys-
tem is not fully understood and has not been imitated. However,

this miraculous reaction is just one of the daily tasks that bacteria
have performed , non-stop, for billions of years. With photosynthe-
sis, these living things break down carbon dioxide in the atmos-
phere and give off oxygen, thus meeting life's most urgent need.
Moreover, they possess the ability to use light energy from the Sun
in order to separate carbon molecules from
CO . The way that
2
carbon obtained in
THE MICROWORLD MIRACLE The processes carried out

by bacteria constantly, every
second, consist of reactions
that sometimes not even the
cleverest organic chemists
can reproduce. Even the
most advanced technology

stand these processes.

48 finds it difficult to under-