Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 111 Northwest Wind Synthetic Starch

[As we all know, the starch content in wheat is more than 70%, and the starch content in rice is more than 75%]

[These starches are mainly formed by plants absorbing sunlight, water and CO2, and polymerizing through more than 60 steps under the catalysis of a series of enzymes. Its chemical formula can be written as C6H12O6]

[Because it can be seen as composed of 6 C and 6 water, it is also called carbohydrate. 】

[Because the chain of starch synthesis in plants is too long, there will inevitably be energy loss in the series of reactions, so the utilization rate of sunlight for photosynthesis of plants such as wheat and rice is less than 5%]

[This is how the research project on artificially synthesized starch came about. Netizens affectionately call it: turning air into steamed buns]

[In other words, if the project is successful, we may not even need to grow staple food in the future, and we can be full by just drinking the northwest wind.]

Jinling City, Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

Mr. Su and the others didn't care about the well-known fact that they were not included in the crowd. When they heard Tianmu's mysterious words, they couldn't help but laugh: "Which marketing account spread this fake news again?"

Marketing account is a term learned from the comment section, which refers specifically to those accounts that attract attention by exaggerating news.

Shopkeeper Wan smiled slightly, "Is this an exaggeration?"

Other diners also questioned it. Generally speaking, when you hear such exaggerated news, you can definitely confirm that it is a marketing account trying to attract attention by clicking on the comments section.

“Boasting is not taxable.”

"What a wild idea! If we don't grow food in the fields, what should we grow?"

"Ahhh!" Some people even opened their mouths and waited for the wind to blow in. They pretended to chew a few times and swallowed it in big mouthfuls. Then they burped, bowed to everyone, and said, "It tastes like sauerkraut buns. I'm full. Please feel free to eat as you please."

"Hahaha" the group of people were very happy, with smiles on their faces.

Another person took a few sips, and for a moment an expression of enjoyment appeared on his face, "Ah, the fragrance of Longjing, good tea."

Shopkeeper Wan was laughing beside him. To be honest, he didn't believe what Tianmu said. If they didn't grow crops, could they all become immortals? What do 14 billion people eat every day?
"What if what Tianmu said is true?" In the corner, the naughty child of the Fang family retorted unconvincedly. How could he be so arbitrary when he hadn't even heard what Tianmu said?

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into even more joyful laughter.

"If what you said is true, I will stand on my head and eat shit." A man joked loudly, "Everyone, be my witness."

In his opinion, it was foolproof. If it was really that easy to turn air into steamed buns, why would he need to farm?

The weird principles in the sky are too profound and can’t be spread as quickly as these slangs.

"Here you come again to eat and drink for free!"

"Screw you!"

A few people were playing around among themselves, and the naughty child from the Fang family shouted, "Then wait for me for a moment, and don't play tricks later!"

As he spoke he lifted up his robe.

The man from the Fang family couldn't stand it any longer, so he bent his index and middle fingers and gave him a slap. Then, amid the child's howling, he bowed to the others and said, "My son is ignorant, I'm sorry for the offense!"

In front of Fengtian Hall.

Liu Ji and the others exchanged glances and said, "Is this fake news?"

"It's unlikely," Zhu Biao was also frightened, but when he thought about the population number in the future, he felt that this thing was not very reliable, "Could it be that the marketing account is bragging?"

"It's very likely. Write it down first."

A group of clerks rubbed their wrists and continued to write furiously.

【Last month (September 2021), my country achieved artificial synthesis of starch in the laboratory for the first time. 】

[Its rate is 8.5 times that of corn starch synthesis. We know that corn is a C4 crop, so its efficiency in synthesizing starch is much higher than that of wheat and rice. This is why the population that the land can carry doubled when corn was introduced into my country.]

[The rate of artificial starch synthesis is even higher than that of corn. To use a more vivid example, a bioreactor that can synthesize starch and covers an area of ​​1m can synthesize starch annually, which is equivalent to the annual total amount of starch synthesized by 5 mu of corn (about 3333 square meters)]

[The reason for such high efficiency is mainly because it simplifies the starch synthesis process in nature. Starch synthesis in nature is catalyzed by various enzymes and has more than 60 steps. After calculation by a large computer model, a path with only 9 steps was found, but it is difficult to achieve in reality, so the 11-step method is used]

[Simply put, it uses solar energy to generate electricity, electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, and use hydrogen energy to reduce gaseous carbon dioxide into a C1 compound that is more soluble in water]

[Then the C1 compound is polymerized into the C3 compound, and then the C3 compound is polymerized into the C6 compound through a biological pathway]

[But this is only feasible in theory. The natural path of synthesizing starch has undergone hundreds of millions of years of evolution to run smoothly. If the calculated method is to be realized, it is necessary to cross the incompatible gap of various reactions.]

[Solving incompatibility issues in complex processes is exactly what modularization is good at, and that’s how engineering thinking is introduced]

[Scientists divide the synthesis process into four functional modules. The reactants and products of each module are clear, but each module has a variety of optional reactions and enzymes, and they can try different combinations like playing with building blocks.]

[Finally, a starch synthesis pathway with only 11 steps was put into operation. Compared with the natural synthesis with more than 11 steps, the artificial synthesis pathway with only 60 steps can increase the theoretical conversion efficiency of sunlight by 3.5 times and the starch synthesis rate by 8.5 times]

In Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

The smiles of the men stopped, and when they looked at the time next to the title, they found that it was indeed a video from three years ago.

Since it was synthesized in a laboratory and there was such a big fanfare, it must be true. The sky curtain even demonstrated it through a series of animations. "Holy crap, it's real!"

"Cow!"

Everyone's expression changed immediately. After a few awkward compliments, they looked back at the man who had boasted earlier. The man looked at everyone, then at the naughty child who was being held by his father. Judging from his attitude, he might really dare to lift up his robe in public and give himself a big soak.

The man's face turned blue and purple, and he stammered, "I have something to do at home," and then ran away.

Everyone burst into laughter, and many people booed at his back.

Shopkeeper Wan was surprised to see Tianmu actually made this thing. This is a bit of cheating.
If this kind of synthetic starch can really reduce costs and can be produced on a large scale, the benefits it will bring are beyond his imagination.

Compared with today's rice, which can be said to be watered with every drop of sweat, this method of later generations is simply extremely brilliant. It not only saves time and effort, but also saves water and arable land, and there is no need to worry about good years or bad years.

And its cost is water, electricity, CO2, and various biological enzymes, among which the biological enzymes may be the most expensive?

In front of Fengtian Hall.

"Your Majesty, it is really possible to synthesize starch artificially." Even though Liu Ji had made plans and thought this might be a research direction, he did not expect that they had already done it, and they had done it three years ago.

"I know." Zhu Yuanzhang was also frightened. According to Tianmu, this was the result of hundreds of millions of years of evolution in nature.

Humans can actually synthesize it artificially and have improved the synthesis process, increasing the rate of synthesizing starch several times. No wonder people say that humans are the bugs on Earth.

This is another way to solve the food problem, and it is more thorough and efficient than previous measures such as breeding, fertilizers, irrigation, etc.

"Then we won't have to worry about food problems in the future. Isn't it a prosperous age where everyone can have enough to eat?" Song Lian's eyes were slightly red and he said with some trembling. Born in troubled times, he had seen too many people starving to death.

Phrases such as "eating one's own children" and "cannibalism" appear quite frequently in history books.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent. The same piece of land in the future could support a population more than twenty times that of today. Having enough food and clothing was obviously not a big deal. This could be seen from their previous discussions on how people today survive the winter.

The scene of eating watermelon while sitting in front of the heater and imagining how the ancients kept warm is really enviable and jealous.

In the Science Department, Sun Chuanshi carefully pondered Tianmu's words. No one knew what the computers and big models were. They only knew that they were very powerful. This machine could deduce a 7000-step synthesis path from more than 9 reactions.

This thing is quite similar to a machine kick, just as mysterious, and just as capable of helping humans do some things.

"This modularity is like building a mortise and tenon structure. No matter what your crossbeam is used for, it is ultimately connected together through the mortise and tenon," commented Liu Ji.

"It's a pity there are no specific technical details."

"It's good to be able to point out the direction of research and know that there will be light at the end of the tunnel."

Everyone in the Science Department nodded. Research is like digging a well. If you know where the water is from the beginning, you will be able to dig a well sooner or later.

[More importantly, the new method can produce starch like beer fermentation, without occupying a lot of land and fresh water resources]

[Although my country has a large land area, the proportion of arable land is not very high, especially in the northern grain-producing plains, where water resources are actually quite scarce.]

[In this way, we can save more than 90% of arable land and water resources, and avoid the damage and pollution of the environment by fertilizers and pesticides.]

[This is good news for places like those in Central Asia along the Silk Road, because much of their territory is desert, with plenty of sunshine but insufficient arable land. With this synthetic technology, they may be able to completely get rid of the situation of insufficient food production.]

[Of course, more importantly, the CO2 content caused by our exploitation and use of chemical energy has been increasing. This technology can turn the disaster into food. The carbon dioxide is converted into starch, and then made into ethanol, which can be used as fuel, achieving the goal of carbon cycle or carbon neutrality.]

[The Earth is only exposed to 22/1 billion of the sunlight, of which only 47% can reach the ground for photosynthesis, and a lot of it is wasted. However, the starch accumulated after photosynthesis from such a tiny amount of sunlight feeds so many people on Earth.]

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

Fang Xuanling and others were truly shocked by the imagination of later generations. This was truly fabricated out of nothing.

Food can also be synthesized from CO2 and water? Isn't CO2 a gas? It is everywhere in the air. It is really possible to be full by just drinking northwest wind.
"Is this the magic of the periodic table?" Fang Xuanling murmured, from CO2 to C1, then to C3 and C6, and then starch can be converted into ethanol, which is alcohol.

This involves various chemical reactions.

It can be said that the subject of chemistry has always been underestimated by them.

It is not as concise, clear and practical as physics, nor as mysterious as biology, but it is not easy to study it in depth.

The mere step of identifying and recognizing the elements in the periodic table is daunting, not to mention rebuilding the chemical engineering system for future generations.

Li Shimin looked at the comment section. There was no debate, rebuttal or sarcasm, which showed that this artificially synthesized starch was completely reliable.

"I hope to taste the Northwest Wind brand synthetic starch in my lifetime"

"Beautiful, new questions for the college entrance examination! [狗头]"

《Ah! ~ I don’t want it! [Panic]. Oh, I’ve already graduated [Dog head]》

"You still say this isn't cultivation, isn't this just absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to achieve the effect of fasting?"

"I didn't believe it at first, but now I realize that I am just ignorant [crying]"

(End of this chapter)