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Article: Out of thin air: scientists pursue nitrogen fixers with an aim to harness their secrets--and feed the world.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- April 12, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Air is a big tease. Nothing against oxygen, of course, but air is 78 percent nitrogen. Nitrogen is often the deal-breaker for life on Earth, the nutrient that sets the limit for how much of what grows where. Yet even a bonanza of airborne nitrogen passing through lung or leaf does neither animal nor plant a bit of good: One of life's most precious resources just blows away unused with every breath.
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Nitrogen wafts around in the air as paired atoms ([N.sub.2]) locked together chemically with a robust triple bond. Despite a great need for the element, the bodies of living things complex enough to have cells with a nucleus--paramecia ...