Japanese scientists have successfully created hybrid cells that combine animal and plant traits, allowing animal cells to produce energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. This novel approach, led by researchers at the University of Tokyo, could have transformative implications for creating lab-grown tissues, organs for transplants, and even cultivated meat.

In living organisms, animal cells rely on mitochondria to convert chemical energy from food into usable energy. Plant cells, however, use chloroplasts to perform photosynthesis, converting sunlight into cellular energy. In this study, the team introduced chloroplasts from red algae into cultured hamster cells, enabling them to perform photosynthesis—a feat previously achieved only in yeast, a fungus, but never before in animal cells.

To confirm the chloroplasts’ presence in the hamster cells, scientists checked for chlorophyll, the light-absorbing molecule essential to photosynthesis, which also fluoresces under certain light wavelengths. When exposed to a specific laser light, the team detected chlorophyll within the hamster cells, verifying that chloroplasts had been incorporated. Using pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry, they further confirmed that the chloroplasts were indeed performing photosynthesis.

“This is the first time we’ve observed photosynthetic electron transport in chloroplasts within animal cells,” explained Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga, the study’s corresponding author. “We initially thought the chloroplasts might be digested by the animal cells, but they remained functional for up to two days and maintained photosynthetic activity.”

Moreover, the researchers observed that the hamster cells grew at an accelerated rate when cultured with chloroplasts, suggesting that photosynthesis provided an additional source of carbon and energy to the cells. This discovery points to exciting potential applications for tissue engineering.

Professor Matsunaga believes that these hybrid cells could address a persistent issue in lab-grown tissues, such as artificial organs, meat, and skin. “One of the biggest obstacles in growing tissues in layers is hypoxia—low oxygen levels that can limit cell division. By incorporating chloroplast-implanted cells, we could irradiate them with light to produce oxygen through photosynthesis, thereby enhancing oxygen supply within the tissue and promoting growth.”

This breakthrough offers a promising new pathway for advancing cellular engineering, potentially allowing scientists to cultivate larger and healthier tissues by leveraging photosynthetic cells as a built-in oxygen source.

By Impact Lab