This work was made possible by using the ultrafast and ultrabright X-ray pulses at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).It is a breakthrough in studying atomic-scale transformations in photosynthesis and other biological and industrial processes that depend on catalysts, which efficiently speed up reactions. The x rays are released in every femtosecond making it possible to closely photograph each stage of the photosynthesis process especially the part played by the Photosystem II, a protein complex in plants, algae and some microbes that carries out the oxygen-producing stage of photosynthesis. In each step, Photosystem II absorbs a photon of sunlight and releases a proton and an electron, which provide the energy to link two water molecules, break them apart and release an oxygen molecule. "All life that depends on oxygen is dependent on photosynthesis," said Junko Yano, a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory chemist and co-leader in the experiment. "If you can learn to do this as nature does it, you can apply the design principles to artificial systems, such as the creation of renewable energy sources. This is opening up the way to really learn a lot about changes going on in the catalytic cycle." I truly believe that this research is indeed going to take us miles ahead in understanding one of the key processes that we should be crediting for us being alive today.