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I want to add something more about the ongoing revolution in the metabolic medicine the cardiologist was talking about.
What about incorporating photosynthesis into the human body?
A science fiction?
Let's see an example:
What if your eyes could use light to heal themselves?
More than 1.5 billion people worldwide are currently affected by dry eye disease. According to National University of Singapore (NUS), "at the cellular level, the disease is driven by a vicious cycle. Inflammation in the corneal region generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), chemically aggressive molecules that damage cells. Healthy eyes can neutralise ROS through antioxidant production that is driven by Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (reduced form) (NADPH). But in inflamed eyes, ROS levels overwhelm the cornea’s natural defences, resulting in the generation of even more ROS – a death spiral."
The technology is called LEAF: Light-reaction Enriched thylAkoid NADPH-Foundry. It uses nanosized thylakoid particles extracted from spinach, and puts them into eye-drop form.
Thylakoids are tiny, membrane-bound compartments inside chloroplasts that act as the primary site for the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis. Their main job is to absorb sunlight and convert it into chemical energy (ATP and NADPH), which helps power antioxidant defenses and reduce oxidative stress or inflammation on the ocular surface. NUS says the particles are about 400 nanometres across and can be absorbed by cells.
The results are very impressive for preclinical work. In lab tests, LEAF restored NADPH within 30 minutes of light exposure, suppressed reactive oxygen species, and shifted immune cells toward an anti-inflammatory state. In tear samples from dry-eye patients, it reportedly increased NADPH about 20-fold and reduced hydrogen peroxide, a key cell-damaging oxidant, by more than 95%. In rodent dry-eye models, drops used under ambient indoor light reversed corneal damage toward near-healthy levels within five days and outperformed Restasis in that model.
But, what is the caveat?
This has not yet proven itself in human clinical trials. Moreover, the nanoparticles are stable for two weeks at room temperature and up to one year at -80°C. That does not automatically make it impossible or unaffordable, but it does suggest this is just a prototype, which may not be suitable for commercialization right now. They or superintelligent AIs have to find a way to modify the chemical formulation so that the particles can be stable for much longer time under room temperature before the launch to the consumer market.
But, does this mean that we can cure dry eye disease now?
Not there yet. Dry eye is not one disease. It is a jungle. Some dry eye is inflammation or oxidative-stress dominant. Some is meibomian gland dysfunction. Some is autoimmune, like Sjögren’s. Some is nerve-driven corneal neuropathic pain, especially after surgery. LEAF might be very powerful for the inflammatory or oxidative-stress loop, but it may not automatically fix damaged nerves, destroyed meibomian glands, eyelid problems, or severe neuropathic pain.
Then, why do I mention this breakthrough?
1) This research strongly suggests that at least some dry-eye states are partly metabolic-redox diseases of the ocular surface.
That is a big conceptual shift.
The classic medical definition already says dry eye is multifactorial: tear-film instability, hyperosmolarity, inflammation, ocular-surface damage, and neurosensory abnormalities can all play roles. So dry eye was never truly one disease. It was already a syndrome with many entry points.
But the spinach-thylakoid research adds a new lens: some eye cells may not merely lack moisture; they may lack enough redox or energy support to defend themselves.
That means the disease picture is not just:
eyes are dry → add liquid
It may also be:
ocular surface stress → oxidative damage → inflammation → mitochondrial or redox exhaustion → poor repair → more dryness and inflammation
That is a much deeper loop.
2) If we think this more broadly, in ordinary drug logic, medicine often says:
“Block this receptor.”
“Inhibit this enzyme.”
“Activate this pathway.”
“Force the system away from one bad state.”
But these thylakoid systems are different. Instead of commanding the cell, this treatment gives the cell more metabolic freedom.
In other words, instead of commanding, the nanoparticle empowers the cell. The cell still decides, through its own biochemical networks, what to repair, what to synthesize, how much oxidative stress to neutralize, which gene programs to shift, and how to restore local balance.
So the deeper pattern is:
(i) Old medicine: push a pathway.
(ii) New medicine: repair the local decision environment.
(iii) Even newer medicine: install a living-machine module that expands what the cell can do.
3) Incorporating photosynthesis into the human body was and is thought to be a science fiction. I remember the popular video game 11 years ago (launched in 2015), Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, introduced a game character with the name Quiet, who is a super-soldier, breathes through her skin and photosynthesizes energy under sunlight so that she does not eat any food.
But since 2022, I had already seen breakthroughs in this direction published on Nature, such as the paper "A plant-derived natural photosynthetic system for improving cell anabolism".
These breakthroughs signal the early technological unification between animals and plants. When we immigrate to Mars, photosynthesis through human bodies could be vital to our life. I think this is what humans in the future might possibly look like. Advanced technology is an evolutionary advantage to adapt harsher and changeable environments.
Afshine Emrani MD FACC@afshineemrani
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