Switch Bioworks and International Scientists Set Direction for Nitrogen Fixation in Nature Biotechnology

SAN CARLOS, CA, November 10, 2026 (EZ Newswire) — Switch Bioworks, a deep-tech company developing genetic control systems for the next era of biomanufacturing, starting with nitrogen biofertilizer, led a commentary published today in Nature Biotechnology that charts a path to accelerate the development and commercialization of biological nitrogen fertilizers. The commentary comes at a pivotal moment, as mounting pressures on food security, climate, and global supply chains converge with breakthroughs in genetic engineering and AI, creating new opportunities to transform nitrogen fertilizer production — an essential foundation of the modern food system.

Titled “The next frontier in nitrogen fixation,” the commentary brings together four Switch Bioworks scientists and researchers from leading international institutions: the University of Oxford, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Federal University of Paraná, and the John Innes Centre.

Scientists have long pursued nitrogen-fixing bacteria as an alternative to conventional fertilizer. The potential impact is substantial: cereal crops, including corn, wheat and rice, supply roughly half of humanity’s dietary calories and depend on nitrogen fertilizer to maintain high yields. Conventional fertilizer production relies heavily on fossil fuels, while application contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Unlocking the potential of biological nitrogen fixation at commercially meaningful performance could fundamentally change how the world feeds itself.

The commentary identifies a fundamental biological trade-off at the center of this challenge. Naturally occurring nitrogen-fixing bacteria generally retain the nitrogen they produce for their own growth. Genetic engineering can enable bacteria to release ammonia that plants can use, but doing so can compromise their ability to grow, establish and compete with other microorganisms on plant roots. These challenges, compounded by inconsistent root colonization across soil types, limited access to energy from plant root exudates, and gaps in scientific validation, have hindered commercial progress and investor confidence in the field.

The authors identify four priorities for unlocking commercially viable biological nitrogen fixation: designing diverse microbial communities that can establish across varying soil conditions; engineering genetic systems that separate microbial growth from nitrogen production; modifying plant traits to better support nitrogen-fixing bacteria; and establishing rigorous testing standards to demonstrate nitrogen delivery to crops under real-world conditions.

Growth-production programming, a central theme of the commentary, is also at the heart of Switch Bioworks’ technology and its recently announced strategic collaboration with Bayer Crop Science. The approach uses genetic switches that allow engineered microbes to first establish and multiply on plant roots before activating nitrogen production. Complementing this approach, Switch is advancing data-driven and machine learning methods to design diverse microbial consortia, with each member engineered using growth-production programming to improve performance across varying field conditions.

“Nature figured out how to fix nitrogen billions of years ago. Our challenge is engineering biology to do it reliably, at scale, and at a cost that competes with industrial production. This commentary lays out what it will take. With AI accelerating biological discovery and engineering, we’re entering a new era where programmable living systems can manufacture what we need, where we need it — without massive industrial infrastructure. Nitrogen fertilizer is just the beginning,” said Dr. Tim Schnabel, founder and CEO of Switch Bioworks and senior author of the commentary.

Even partial replacement of conventional fertilizer could have considerable environmental benefits. The authors estimate that just 10% to 20% replacement could eliminate tens of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from fertilizer manufacturing annually while reducing nitrogen losses from agricultural fields and improving farmers’ bottom lines.

“To make real progress, we need to break the nitrogen fixation challenge into solvable scientific problems — and prove that our solutions work. Improved plant growth alone doesn’t demonstrate that bacteria have transferred fixed nitrogen to crops,” said Dr. Timothy Haskett, first author of the commentary and principal scientist at Switch Bioworks. “We need methodical studies that confirm nitrogen transfer, followed by field trials that measure root colonization and plant nitrogen status using appropriate controls.”

“We have been trying to make biological nitrogen fixation work for cereals for decades. I think what we need now is a clear understanding of what success should look like and how to prove it. This framework can help researchers and developers work toward the same goals, with clear priorities and evidence to support progress,” said Dr. Emanuel Maltempi de Souza, professor at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil and a co-author of the commentary.

Turning the roadmap outlined in the commentary into commercial products requires complex genetic engineering, rigorous field testing, and regulatory review, paving the way for a new category of engineered microbial biofertilizers. Switch Bioworks is helping lead regulatory progress in this emerging category, having secured first-in-class authorizations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency and approvals from Brazil’s National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio).

The commentary, “The next frontier in nitrogen fixation,” is available in Nature Biotechnology.

About Switch Bioworks

Switch Bioworks is the deep-tech company powering the next industrial revolution. Its first foothold is the more than $100 billion nitrogen fertilizer market that underpins the world’s food system, where the company has developed a breakthrough programmable biology platform that enables engineered microbes to replace fossil fuel-derived fertilizer at a fraction of today’s cost. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Switch was founded out of Stanford University in 2022 and is backed by leading investors and a world-class team. The same core technology that turns microbes into programmable fertilizer factories in nature extends across agriculture, energy, industrial biotechnology, and the microbiomes that shape human health — a platform poised to redefine humanity’s relationship with manufacturing and nature. Learn more at switchbioworks.com.

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SOURCE: Switch Bioworks