Artificial leaves synthesize drugs in the light

Scientists have already managed to get two drugs using only sunlight. Now the technology is being prepared for commercialization. So many drugs can be produced even in remote and poor regions.

Researchers from the Technical University of Eindhoven (Netherlands) presented a mini-reactor, which, like leaves in nature, absorbs sunlight and carries out chemical reactions. With the help of the new “artificial leaf” technology, two types of drugs have already been developed - antimalarial artemisinin and antiparasitic ascaridol.

The technology is easily adaptable for a wide range of chemical reactions and maintains stable production in changing weather conditions, scientists say.

The main goal of the team was to create a mobile and environmentally friendly “plant” for the production of medicines in order to reduce the burden on the pharmaceutical industry.

The sheet-shaped reactor is made of plexiglass. This material has a higher refractive index of light, and it is also easier and cheaper to produce in large quantities, scientists calculated. The production of drugs is based on the principle of photosynthesis. Sunlight activates the molecules of liquids passing through the microchannels of the sheet and starts a chemical reaction. Scientists also took into account the instability of weather conditions and developed a special system that slows down or speeds up the process.

nanonewsnet.ru