DUTCH scientists are growing drugs on solar-powered mini factories in the hope they will be shipped out to a human colony on Mars.
The boffs at Eindhoven University of Technology have developed a fake leaf that works like a mini drug-making factory anywhere there is sunlight.
Similarly to photosynthesis, the silicone rubber leaf uses sunlight to as energy to pump liquid through its “veins”.
“Theoretically, you could use this device to make drug compounds with solar energy anywhere you want,” said lead researcher Timothy Noel at Eindhoven University of Technology.
By harnessing solar power the drugs could be used in the jungle to cure malaria, or even on the red planet for a future space colony.
The barren Martian surface could be vastly improved with the addition of leafy trees dispensing drugs, scientists believe
Noel said: "Using a reactor like this means you can make drugs anywhere, in principle, whether malaria drugs in the jungle or paracetamol on Mars.
"All you need is sunlight and this mini-factory."
And the colony is not that far off, with Space X billionaire Elon Musk offering up one-way tickets to Mars for around £153,000-a-pop.
The latest scientific feat is something humans have struggled with for years.
But now, chemical engineers could be growing trees full of the drug leaves within ten years, Noel added.
He said: "You can make a whole tree with many, many different leaves placed in parallel.
"These are very cheap things to make, so there is a lot of potential."
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