# The tiny organisms transforming farming

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED Countdown Summit 2025
- Speaker: Karsten Temme
- Year: 2025
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology, Earth and environment
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/karsten_temme_the_tiny_organisms_transforming_farming)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

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.

## Lectures

1. [The tiny organisms transforming farming](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/karsten_temme_the_tiny_organisms_transforming_farming/4541e6293732), 11 min (TED's player)