Light-driven dinitrogen reduction catalyzed by a CdS:nitrogenase MoFe protein biohybrid

Enzymes make fertilizer with sunlight Nitrogenase enzymes catalyze the biological production of fixed nitrogen. Because this is not enough to sustain modern agriculture, industrial fertilizers containing ammonia are produced via the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. Brown et al. developed a way to use nitrogenase enzymes from nitrogen-fixing bacteria to make ammonia in vitro without other biological steps or high-energy inputs. Light-activated CdS nanorods provided electrons to the FeMo nitrogenase enzyme to reduce nitrogen and produce ammonia at rates up to 64% of biological nitrogen fixation. These nanoparticle-protein complexes show the potential for solar-driven ammonia production. Science , this issue p. 448