In order for humans to live in outer
space, they must have a steady
supply of oxygen they can depend
on. Now, instead of relying on plants
that may not survive, they can use
an artificial biological leaf designed
by a London graduate student.
Julian Melchiorri, a graduate student
in innovation design engineering at
the UK’s Royal College of Art,
created the synthetic leaf, which he
called the ‘Silk Leaf Project’. The
design was for an RCA course
offered in collaboration with Tufts
University’s silk lab in
Massachusetts. Like the leaf from a
real plant, the synthetic leaf uses
photosynthesis to produce oxygen,
by absorbing light, water and
carbon dioxide.

“The artificial leaves feature
chloroplasts extracted from actual
plant cells that are suspended in a
material made from silk protein. So
when given access to light and
water they still produce oxygen, but
they’re better suited to surviving off
our planet”

The protein-based material is
extracted directly from the silk fiber.
It’s used to stabilize organelles ‒
organic molecules within a cell,
including chloroplasts ‒ within the
material’s matrix, Melchiorri told
Dezeen.com

“I have the first photosynthetic
material that was working and
breathing as a leaf does,” he said.
The man-made leaf is lighter than
the real thing, but better suited to
long-term life in space because
scientists don’t know if organic
plants would survive and flourish
outside our atmosphere the way
humans would need them to. And if
mankind is to colonize space those
living on another planet would need
to produce their own O2 gas.

“So what if we could take those
biological oxygen factories into
space with us, but without all the
land, sun, water, soil, and gravity
that forests tend to require?,
” CNet ponders. “This is the point
where NASA and Elon Musk should
probably start paying attention.”
The space agency is the designer’s
ideal target, in fact.

“Plants don’t grow in zero gravity,”
Melchiorri explained. “NASA is
researching different ways to
produce oxygen for long-distance
space journeys to let us live in
space. This material could allow us
to explore space much further than
we can now.” The design brings the
natural efficiency of photosynthesis
to a man-made material.

The graduate student also sees his
leaf being used for interior design or
for the ventilation system in a large
building. The material would serve
as a filter for the outside air
bringing oxygenated air into the
structure.

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