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To enable plants to take advantage of Earth's nitrogen-rich atmosphere -- and reduce the need for fertilizer -- scientists have genetically engineered bacteria that can make use of nitrogen gas, a process called nitrogen fixation. If scientists can apply this engineering method -- in which nitrogen-fixing genes are inserted into a specimen that normally doesn't fix nitrogen -- to plants, it could change the face of agriculture, making more food available in less time with fewer environmental costs.
Credit: National Science Foundation/Karson Productions
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