A chloroplast is a tiny structure inside plant and algae cells where photosynthesis happens, turning sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food. It contains chlorophyll, the green pigment that captures light energy.
“Chloroplast” combines Greek “khlōros,” meaning “green,” and “plastos,” meaning “formed” or “molded.” It literally means “green body” or “green form” in the cell.
Chloroplasts are like microscopic solar panels that power almost all life on Earth by making sugars. They used to be free-living bacteria that plants “adopted” in a long-ago symbiosis, so each plant cell is hosting tiny ancient guests. Every leaf you see is packed with these green time travelers.
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