A biological and chemical method for the biological conversion of inorganic and/or organic molecules containing one or more carbon atoms, into organic molecules comprising amino acids, proteins, and/or vitamins produced through a carbon fixing reaction or anabolic biosynthesis, comprising:
- introducing inorganic and/or organic molecules containing one or more carbon atom, into an environment that comprises microorganism cells in a culture medium that is suitable for maintaining the microorganism cells;
- wherein the inorganic and/or organic molecules containing one or more carbon atom are used as a carbon source by the microorganism cells for growth and/or biosynthesis;
- converting the inorganic and/or organic molecules containing one or more carbon atoms into the organic molecule products comprising amino acids, proteins, and/or vitamins within the environment via at least one carbon-fixing reaction or at least one anabolic biosynthetic pathway contained within the microorganism cells;
- wherein the carbon fixing reaction or anabolic biosynthetic pathway is at least partially driven by chemical and/or electrochemical energy provided by electron donors and/or electron acceptors that have been generated chemically and/or electrochemically and/or thermochemically and/or are introduced into the environment from at least one source external to the environment, and wherein the microorganism cells comprise biomass that comprises said amino acids, proteins, and/or vitamins.