Genetically engineered blood protein can split water into oxygen and hydrogen

Imperial College London is collaborating with Waseda University (Japan) professors Tsuchida and Komatsu on another potential way to produce hydrogen. They've engineered a new compound from two molecules that occur naturally in blood, to use solar energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The researchers have combined a protein called albumin with porphyrin to create a molecular complex that can absorb light energy, to allow it to split up water molecules. Porphyrin is the molecule that carries oxygen around in the blood-stream. The albumin is genetically engineered to improve the efficiency of the whole process. Sooner or later scientists will find a process that allows for simple localized production of hydrogen. Since hydrogen is the most common element in the known universe, and obviously reacts and combines with so many other elements, there is bound to be a way to reverse the process efficiently.

[Source: Imperial College London]