(Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in France has discovered an algal photoenzyme that uses blue light to convert fatty acids to hydrocarbons. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their work and the possibility of using their findings as a means for providing a new hydrocarbon energy source. Nigel Scrutton with the University of Manchester offers a Perspective piece in the same journal issue outlining the struggle to harness photochemistry in biology-based manufacturing processes along with overview of the work done by the team in France.