Photorespiration is when RuBisCO grabs oxygen instead of CO₂, starting a wasteful process that loses energy and fixed carbon. It’s inefficient because RuBisCO evolved in a low-oxygen, high-CO₂ ancient world, and now struggles in our modern atmosphere. But in my lab, studying drought-stressed crops, I see this "inefficiency" differently—the nitrogen salvaging pathway from photorespiration can be a lifeline during stress. So, while it seems wasteful in a Kolkata pandal, in a parched Bengaluru field, it’s part of a messy, desperate survival toolkit we’re trying to understand.
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