US Switch Bioworks Partners with Bayer to Develop Microbial Nitrogen Fertilizer

en.Wedoany.com Reported - US agricultural biotechnology company Switch Bioworks announced a strategic partnership with the Crop Science division of Germany's Bayer Group to jointly develop a new generation of fertilizer products that use engineered microorganisms for biological nitrogen fixation. The two parties will first conduct R&D around Switch Bioworks' genetic switch technology, combining Bayer's capabilities in crop science, product formulation, field trials and commercial development to advance technology validation and product development for microbial nitrogen fertilizer.

Switch Bioworks' technology platform uses genetically engineered microorganisms that first colonize plant roots and then activate nitrogen fixation. The technology was initially developed at Stanford University, with R&D focused on controlling the different stages of microbial root colonization and nitrogen production. In controlled plant growth chamber trials, engineered strains using the genetic switch technology produced 5 times the amount of nitrogen as control strains with continuously active nitrogen fixation.

Under the collaboration arrangement, Switch Bioworks will provide engineered strains and genetic switch technology, while Bayer will participate in product R&D, formulation design, field trials and commercialization, and will leverage its crop genetics research capabilities to advance related technology development. The two parties will first study the nitrogen fixation performance of engineered microorganisms in the crop rhizosphere, with follow-up work on microbial colonization, nitrogen supply and field applicability of the products.

In June 2026, Switch Bioworks obtained relevant permits from the US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct field trials of microbial fertilizers at multiple agricultural trial sites in the US Midwest, including research on corn. On September 30, the company also announced that its regulatory submission for engineered microorganisms was approved by Brazil's National Technical Commission on Biosafety, marking regulatory progress toward subsequent field evaluations in Brazil.