TED Talks Daily
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The tiny organisms transforming farming | Karsten Temme
11 minutes Posted Feb 27, 2026 at 4:00 pm.
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What if the solution to feeding humanity has been hiding in the soil for millions of years? Bioengineer Karsten Temme discovered a remarkable answer to this question: for eons, crops relied on soil microbes to convert atmospheric nitrogen into food — until modern farming severed that ancient partnership. He shows how we can reawaken those dormant microbes using gene editing, creating “living fertilizer” that delivers nutrients to crops in real time and transforms farms around the world.

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