Protein nanomachines: how they helped create our planet

All organisms exchange gases with the atmosphere. We breathe in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide and water, converting food into energy. Plants, which supply this food, absorb carbon dioxide and water through their leaves and use sunlight to produce oxygen and sugars. These processes, photosynthesis in plants and respiration in animals, balance atmospheric gases over time.

Earth's habitability relies on biogeochemical cycles, driven by proteins that evolved in ancient microbes. These microbes, the foundation of life, created the conditions that made Earth habitable long before plants and animals existed.