We aim to harness light as an energy source for bacterial production processes. To this end, we are combining the unique morphological and physiological properties of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria with metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches to establish new photosynthetic cell factories for the sustainable synthesis of high-value compounds, including plant terpenoids. In addition, our group is fascinated by the idea of using light to reprogram and analyze living cells. To this end, we are developing new fluorescent reporter proteins and biosensors as well as optogenetic on/off switches that can be used for non-invasive in vivo monitoring and control of production and communication processes in various bacteria and synthetic microbial communities with superior spatio-temporal resolution.