Plants, like us, need to breathe, and thank God they are able to do so efficiently because without this ability, life on earth will be impossible.

If we observe a leaf under a powerful microscope, we will see thousands of tiny pores called stomata (Greek for ‘mouths’) on the underside (for land plants) or the upper surface (for aquatic plants). Stomata act as the lungs of a plant. Surrounding them are specialized guard cells that control the opening and closing of stomata pores. Under daylight, these pores open to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make food, a process called photosynthesis. Oxygen is released as a byproduct of this process.

Most of us don’t think about the significance of photosynthesis, but we should. Plants form the basis of agriculture, and therefore the base of the food chain. Furthermore, almost all the oxygen we breathe comes from photosynthesis, without which we will suffocate and die. Finally, by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, plants help regulate the Earth’s climate and prevent excessive global warming.

Until recently, closely tracking how a plant breathes has been extremely tricky. That changed with a recent study by scientists at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (published in the journal Plant Physiology Volume 199: 4, December 2025). This paper reported a new powerful technique that allows scientists to observe minute movements of stomata while also measuring, at the same time, how much gas a leaf is exchanging with the atmosphere under controlled conditions. Thanks to their work, we can now see how a plant breathes in real time (video below). More than that, their work opens the way for developing crops that can grow with less water and still reliably produce food, biofuel and bio-products especially in regions where drought is common.

Video of a stoma pore opening and closing (0.18)