Table 1.

Major reactions undergone by life‐supporting chemical elements that affect the global balance of the Earth's cycles

Chem species	Status	Issues	Remediation agenda
C	C acts at the surface of the Earth in two major roles. As the atomic component with most versatile connecting capability, it enables the construction and propagation of biomatter through genetically programmed formation of C‐C, C‐O, C‐H, C‐N and C‐S bonds. As a volatile element it cycles in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and Earth crust under redox forms ranging from fully reduced (CH4 and coal) to fully oxidized (CO2), entailing major planetary consequences because of their greenhouse and ocean acidification effects	Energy vehicle Hydrocarbons Carbon fixation at all redox levels Plastics	Diversify carbon chemical reaction mechanisms by implanting in metabolism NTNa catalysts of bond formation and exchange (e.g metathesis, sp2 carbon exchange, and hydroxylation, conversion of C‐H into C‐OH) so as to enable biosynthetic and bioenergetic designs not explored during evolution as well as to provide fine chemistry with chemo, regio, stereo‐specific catalysts with unprecedented scope Construct alternatives for CO2, CO, CH4 fixation so as to curb the release of greenhouse gas generation in the chemical industry and immobilize atmospheric carbon in biomaterial sinks
N	N is a universal component of biomatter (ca 15% cell dry mass) as constituent of nucleic acids and proteins. Humans require on average one mole of daily N nutritional intake. Nitrogen is used under its reduced form (ammonia) by living organisms but can be assimilated under oxidized form (nitrate, nitrite) or even N2 by nitrogen fixing bacteria. Vegetal growth in agriculture is mainly limited by nitrogen availability. The invention of synthetic fertilizers, i.e. urea produced via the reduction in N2 by H2 into NH3 at high pressure and temperature by the Haber–Bosch process, is estimated to have liberated human demographics and enabled about half of human population to feed. Synthetic ammonia has resulted in increasing the total terrestrial fixation of N2 by ca 15%, which corresponds to ~1.5% of total industrial energy consumption (as natural gas). This industrial process releases N2O as an end‐product of microbial fertilizer oxidation and as an atmospheric contaminant with a greenhouse effect 700‐fold higher than CO2	Fixation Synthetic fertilizer Energy consumption	Deploy alternative bioprocesses of nitrogen fixation from N2 tolerant to O2 in bacteria and eucaryotes (plants and fungi) through NTN biocatalysts so as to use air as feedstock Program efficient syntrophic microbe/plant associations
P	P is a universal component of biomatter (ca 1% cell dry mass) as part of nucleic acid backbone as well as animal skeleton. Humans require on average 10 mmoles of daily nutritional P intake. It exists under its oxidized form, phosphate, in the Earth crust. As such it is not volatile, does not recycle through the atmosphere and sinks in the hydrosphere to accumulate at ca 3 μM in the oceans. A phosphorus dearth is anticipated to occur in the not so distant future, once natural deposits of phosphate in Morocco, Russia and a few rare other locations will have been exhausted for fertilizing fields at the global level	Non‐renewable Extraction from seawater	Deploy alternatives to the use of phosphorus in industrial molecular products and production processes so as to spare natural resources and prevent eutrophication Deploy sustainable processes to extract P from seawater, marine sediments and wastewater using renewable energy so as to fulfil losses through seepage from continental lands
H2O	The elements hydrogen and oxygen mainly intervene at the surface of the Earth as water, which itself serves as reagent in a myriad of metabolic reactions for constructing biomatter. Freshwater is a rare and precious resource.	Life support Energy cycle	Exploring novel polymeric materials with highest resolution/specification of active structure and lowest cost of bioproduction, operation and environmental impact In situ production or water‐capture/retention activities (e.g. hygroscopic molecules and polymers) Enhanced processing with novel ion exchange resins for desalting, adsorbing and sequestering elemental pollutants ( e.g. precious elements and heavy metals)

^aNTN, new to nature.