The world’s nitrogen fixation, explained

Yale University scientists may have cracked a part of the chemical code for one of the most basic, yet mysterious, processes in the natural world - nature's ability to transform nitrogen from the air into usable nitrogen compounds. The process is called nitrogen fixation, and it occurs in microorganisms on the roots of plants. This is how nature makes its own fertilizers to feed plants, which feed us. The enzyme responsible for natural nitrogen fixation is called nitrogenase. Yale chemistry professor Patrick Holland and his team designed a new chemical compound with key properties that help to explain nitrogenase. The findings are described in the Sept. 23 online edition of the journal Nature.