Green sea slugs and dryads

Here's a fascinating creature: a sea slug that stole the ability of photosynthesis from algae, turning itself into an animal/plant hybrid. Not only does it incorporate chloroplasts (tiny organelles inside plant cells) into its own cells, it has also appropriated the right genes from algae to make the symbiosis work.

Think of the advantages for the slug! A creature that's notorious for being slow and vulnerable now has all the food it can desire, produced right inside its own cells. Free food for life! And all it needs is sunlight.

If you're a transhumanist, you'd be thinking how we can get that ability for ourselves. Imagine: solving world hunger with a vaccine. It's clear to me that world hunger can not be solved by simply giving people food - it's a complex social and economic and political problem. But what if we have the technology to bypass all that mess, and inject the genes into those who are starving, so they and their children would never have to be hungry again?

Of course there would be side effects. Your skin turns green. Wearing clothing will block the sunlight. You'll need more surface area than what your skin can provide to get enough energy - leafy hair should do the trick. So there might be new forms of prejudice. But I think naked green-skinned people with leafy hair would be totally awesome:

Some interesting factoids:

• Most of the population suffering from hunger live near equatorial regions where sunlight is plentiful year-round: India and Africa.
  
• Plants are less efficient than broad spectrum solar panels. In plants, chlorophyll don't absorb green frequency light, instead reflecting it and giving leafs their familiar color. But, whereas solar panels produce electricity, the photosynthesis process in plants produces sugar, which can be used directly by our bodies.
  
• Dryads are creatures in Greek myth, also known as tree nymphs.

Story from:
Leaf-like sea slug feeds on light
PNAS journal article: Horizontal gene transfer of the algal nuclear gene psbO to the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia chlorotica
Picture credit: http://www.presidiacreative.com/23-spectacular-examples-of-digital-art-by-artemis-kolakis/