Most of us know that photosynthesis is a biochemical process that plants, algae, and some bacteria use to create food and release oxygen to the earth’s atmosphere. We also know that chlorophyll is the molecule that drives the process. We may not know that there are two separate chlorophyll groups in structures called thylakoids which convert light into electrical energy. In all of this there are two reactions, one dependent on light and one independent of light.

In the light-dependent reaction sunlight enters the plant and energizes the chlorophyll. The chlorophyll splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and feeds electrons into nearby molecules. The oxygen escapes and the hydrogen is used later. The freed electrons make a molecule called ATP which fuels cellular functions. With more sunlight a molecule called NADP is produced.

In the light-independent reaction NADP combines with the freed hydrogen to make a larger molecule called NADPH. These components, NADPH, ATP, and an enzyme called RubisCO, create sugars and other carbohydrates using carbon dioxide and water in a complex chemical process called the Calvin-Benson cycle.

Chlorophyll operates with light in the blue and red part of the spectrum, reflecting green light (which is why trees are green). The energies of the light are exactly the right values to allow the Calvin-Benson cycle to work. Carbon is taken from the atmosphere and forms the foundation of all food chains on earth.

This superficial explanation of photosynthesis is designed to make just one point--this process is so complex and so highly designed that to think it could come about by chance alone takes a profound faith in chance--a faith unwarranted by our own experience. Design and engineering of this high level of sophistication is not something that will happen by chance. It is a reflection of the wisdom of the Creator, who used some incredibly complex processes to establish life on this planet.

Reference: Cribsheet #10, Seed magazine, May 30, 2007.

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