It was a revolutionary first step toward artificial food. A century later, most food is still grown the traditional way—by plants—but the idea of manufacturing food in controlled, factory environments has been gaining ground. Daniel Berthelot (shown here) died in 1927, never achieving his dream of creating food from air, water, and light. Solar Foods may not require land or plants to produce food, but their technology derives from a living organism. Using a form of fermentation, it relies on a microbe to digest air and water to produce protein.