Sweet Secret
What does a plant leaf have to do with the solar energy panels on the White House? Find out how Melvin Calvin’s Nobel Prize–winning photosynthesis research is helping cool the planet, in this article from National Geographic Education.
Calvin Cycle
The Calvin cycle is a part of photosynthesis, the process plants and other autotrophs use to create nutrients from sunlight and carbon dioxide. The process was first identified by U.S. biochemist Dr. Melvin Calvin in 1957.
Illustration by Tim Gunther
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The Calvin cycle is a process that plants and algae use to turn carbon dioxide from the air into sugar, the food autotrophs need to grow.
Every living thing on Earth depends on the Calvin cycle. Plants depend on the Calvin cycle for energy and food. Other organisms, including herbivores, like deer, depend on it indirectly. Herbivores depend on plants for food. Even organisms that eat other organisms, like tigers (Panther tigris) or sharks, depend on the Calvin cycle. Without it, they wouldn’t have the food, energy, and nutrients they need to survive.
For centuries, scientists knew that plants could turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar (carbohydrates) using light energy—a process called photosynthesis. However, they didn’t know exactly how this was accomplished.
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