Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman, director of ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, and Associate Professor Cesar Torres, a chemical engineer, have roles in collaborative work with other leading ASU researchers who are tapping into nature’s processes to develop new sources of sustainable green energy. The group has created a microbial electro-photosynthetic system that uses a genetically engineered microbe to accommodate significantly high light intensities and continue photosynthetic activity without doing environmental harm. The system can provide a bridge between artificial energy and natural photosynthesis, offering a green pathway to the production of a broad range of products — including fuels, agrochemicals, therapeutics, cosmetics, plastics and specialty chemicals, as well as human and animal supplements.