Switch Bioworks published a new MIT Technology Review feature by Casey Crownhart examining how engineered microbes help reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer demand.

We believe the next industrial revolution will come from merging our most advanced technologies with nature—programming living systems to manufacture where and when their products are needed. Switch Bioworks is a deep tech company programming microbes to replace energy-intensive, fossil fuel-dependent industrial processes. We’re starting with nitrogen fertilizer—the essential input that underpins the global food system. Manufacturing with microbes in nature, however, presents a fundamental challenge: growth and production compete for the same energy. Switch’s genetic switches solve this by separating the two phases. Our microbes establish first, then activate production—turning living cells into programmable factories that make nitrogen at the plant root instead of in a chemical plant. We’re building a platform for distributed biological manufacturing, starting with agriculture. This is only the beginning. Build with us.