Bacteria fossils hold the oldest signs of machinery needed for photosynthesis
1.78-billion-year-old microfossils reveal sunlight-harnessing structures that give off oxygen
Cyanobacteria, like these ocean-dwelling Prochlorococcus, invented photosynthesis billions of years ago. Now, scientists have fossil evidence of the structures needed to turn sunlight into chemical energy in some ancient cyanobacteria.
Luke Thompson/Chisholm Lab, Nikki Watson/Whitehead/MIT