Why "biofabrication" is the next industrial revolution
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0:02 - 0:05I started life as a fashion designer,
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0:05 - 0:09working closely with textile designers
and fabric suppliers. -
0:10 - 0:15But today, I can no longer see
or talk to my new collaborators, -
0:15 - 0:18because they're in the soil
beneath our feet, -
0:18 - 0:21on the shelves of our supermarkets
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0:21 - 0:24and in the beer I'm going to drink
when I finish this talk. -
0:26 - 0:28I'm talking about microbes
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0:28 - 0:31and designing with life.
-
0:32 - 0:33Fifteen years ago,
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0:33 - 0:36I completely changed
both what I worked with -
0:36 - 0:38and how I worked
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0:38 - 0:41after a revelatory collaboration
with a biologist. -
0:42 - 0:47Our project gave me
a different perspective on life, -
0:47 - 0:50introducing a whole new
world of possibility -
0:50 - 0:53around how we can design and make things.
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0:54 - 0:57I discovered a radical
manufacturing proposition: -
0:58 - 1:00biofabrication.
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1:00 - 1:04Literally, fabricating with biology.
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1:05 - 1:07What does that mean?
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1:07 - 1:12Well, instead of processing
plants, animals or oil -
1:12 - 1:14to make consumer materials,
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1:14 - 1:20we might grow materials directly
with living organisms. -
1:21 - 1:25In what many are terming
"the Fourth Industrial Revolution," -
1:25 - 1:29we're thinking about the new factories
as being living cells. -
1:30 - 1:34Bacteria, algae, fungi, yeast:
-
1:34 - 1:39our latest design tools
include those of biotechnology. -
1:39 - 1:42My own journey in biofabrication
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1:42 - 1:45started with a project
called "Biocouture." -
1:46 - 1:50The provocation was that instead
of growing a plant, like cotton, -
1:50 - 1:52in a field over several months,
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1:52 - 1:58we could use microbes to grow
a similar cellulose material in a lab -
1:59 - 2:00in a few days.
-
2:00 - 2:05Using a certain species of bacteria
in a nutrient-rich liquid, -
2:05 - 2:08we fermented threads of cellulose
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2:08 - 2:12that self-organized
into a sheet of fabric. -
2:13 - 2:15I dried the fabric I had grown
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2:15 - 2:21and cut and sewed it
into a range of garments, shoes and bags. -
2:21 - 2:24In other words,
in one lab we grew materials -
2:24 - 2:27and turned them into a range of products
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2:27 - 2:29in a matter of days.
-
2:29 - 2:33And this is in contrast
to currents methods of fabric production, -
2:33 - 2:36where a plant is grown,
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2:36 - 2:39just the cotton part is harvested,
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2:39 - 2:41processed into a yarn,
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2:41 - 2:43woven into a fabric
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2:43 - 2:45and then potentially shipped across oceans
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2:45 - 2:48before being cut and sewn into a garment.
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2:49 - 2:51All of that can take months.
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2:52 - 2:55So these prototypes indicated a field
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2:55 - 2:59offering significant
resource efficiencies. -
2:59 - 3:03From reducing the water,
energy and chemistry needed -
3:03 - 3:05in the production of a material,
-
3:05 - 3:08through to generating zero waste,
-
3:08 - 3:12we grew fabrics to finished form --
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3:12 - 3:17if you like, "biological
additive manufacture." -
3:17 - 3:20Through biofabrication,
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3:20 - 3:24I had replaced many
intensive man-made steps -
3:24 - 3:27with one biological step.
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3:27 - 3:30And as I engaged with this living system,
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3:30 - 3:32it transformed my design thinking.
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3:33 - 3:37Here was biology,
with no intervention from me -
3:37 - 3:42other than designing initial
conditions for growth, -
3:42 - 3:46efficiently producing a useful,
sustainable material. -
3:47 - 3:54So now I can't help but see all materials
through the lens of biofabrication. -
3:54 - 3:59In fact, there's a growing
global community of innovators -
3:59 - 4:03rethinking materials with biology.
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4:03 - 4:08Multiple companies are now
growing mushroom materials, -
4:08 - 4:10but not literally mushrooms --
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4:10 - 4:15using mycelium, which is
the root system of fungi, -
4:15 - 4:19to bind together agricultural byproducts.
-
4:19 - 4:23It's a process that's been
described as "nature's glue." -
4:24 - 4:27A common way to do this
is to take a 3-D mold, -
4:27 - 4:33fill it with a waste crop
like corn stalks or hemp, -
4:33 - 4:34add water,
-
4:34 - 4:39wait a few days for the mycelium
to grow throughout, -
4:39 - 4:40remove the mold,
-
4:40 - 4:43and you're left with a grown 3-D form.
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4:45 - 4:48Incredibly, we can grow
all kinds of structures -
4:48 - 4:51using living organisms,
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4:51 - 4:55from foams that can replace
plastics in footwear, -
4:55 - 4:58to leather-like materials without animals.
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4:58 - 5:02Furniture, flooring -- all
are currently being prototyped. -
5:02 - 5:07Fungi are able to grow materials
that are naturally fire retardant, -
5:07 - 5:09without any chemicals.
-
5:10 - 5:11They're naturally hydrophobic,
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5:11 - 5:14meaning they won't absorb water.
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5:14 - 5:17They have higher melt
temperatures than plastics. -
5:18 - 5:23Polystyrene can take thousands
of years to degrade. -
5:24 - 5:26Mushroom packaging materials
-
5:26 - 5:30can be naturally composted
in your back garden -
5:30 - 5:32in as little as 30 days.
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5:33 - 5:36Living organisms are transforming waste
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5:36 - 5:41into cost-competitive,
performance-matching materials -
5:41 - 5:43that can start to replace plastics
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5:43 - 5:46and other CO2-emitting materials.
-
5:47 - 5:51And once we start growing materials
with living organisms, -
5:51 - 5:56it starts to make previous methods
of manufacture seem illogical. -
5:57 - 5:59Take the humble house brick.
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6:01 - 6:04The cement industry generates
around eight percent -
6:04 - 6:06of global CO2 emissions.
-
6:06 - 6:09That's more than all the planes
and ships each year. -
6:10 - 6:15The cement process
requires materials to be fired in a kiln -
6:15 - 6:19at over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
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6:20 - 6:23Compare this to bioMASON.
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6:23 - 6:28They use a soil microbe
to transform loose aggregates, -
6:28 - 6:30like sand or crushed stone,
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6:30 - 6:35into a biofabricated, or biocement, brick.
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6:35 - 6:39Their process happens at room temperature,
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6:39 - 6:41in just a couple of days.
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6:41 - 6:44Think: hydroponics for bricks.
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6:44 - 6:49An irrigation system
feeds nutrient-rich water -
6:49 - 6:51to trays of bricks
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6:51 - 6:53that have been inoculated with bacteria.
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6:54 - 6:56The bacteria produce crystals
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6:56 - 6:59that form around each grain of sand,
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6:59 - 7:03locking together all the loose particles
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7:03 - 7:04to form a solid brick.
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7:06 - 7:09We can now grow construction materials
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7:09 - 7:12in the elegant way nature does,
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7:12 - 7:14just like a coral reef.
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7:15 - 7:20And these biofabricated bricks
are nearly three times stronger -
7:20 - 7:23than a concrete block.
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7:24 - 7:28And in stark contrast
to traditional cement production, -
7:28 - 7:30they store more carbon than they make.
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7:31 - 7:36So if we could replace
the 1.2 trillion fired bricks -
7:36 - 7:38that are made each year
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7:38 - 7:40with biofabricated bricks,
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7:40 - 7:43we could reduce CO2 emissions
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7:43 - 7:47by 800 million tons every year.
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7:48 - 7:55(Applause)
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7:56 - 8:00Beyond growing materials
with living organisms, -
8:00 - 8:02we're even starting to design products
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8:02 - 8:04that encourage their growth.
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8:04 - 8:07And this comes from the realization
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8:07 - 8:12that the very thing we've been trying
to marginalize -- life -- -
8:12 - 8:16might actually be
our greatest collaborator. -
8:17 - 8:21To that end, we've been
exploring all the ways -
8:21 - 8:25that we can grow healthy microbes
in our own ecosystems. -
8:25 - 8:30A great example of this is architects
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8:30 - 8:33who are imagining the skin of a building
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8:34 - 8:36to function like the bark of a tree.
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8:37 - 8:40But not as a cosmetic green layer.
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8:40 - 8:43They're designing architectural barks
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8:43 - 8:47as hosts for evolving ecologies.
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8:48 - 8:54These surface structures
are designed to invite life in. -
8:54 - 9:00And if we applied the same energy
we currently do suppressing forms of life -
9:00 - 9:03towards cultivating life,
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9:03 - 9:06we'd turn the negative image
of the urban jungle -
9:06 - 9:12into one that literally embodies
a thriving, living ecosystem. -
9:13 - 9:19By actively encouraging surface
interactions with healthy microbes, -
9:19 - 9:22we could improve passive climate control,
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9:22 - 9:24stormwater management
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9:24 - 9:26and even reduce CO2 emissions
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9:26 - 9:30by lowering the energy
used to heat or cool our buildings. -
9:31 - 9:35We're just beginning
to realize the potential -
9:35 - 9:38of nature-based technologies.
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9:38 - 9:43I'm excited that we're starting
to design and biofabricate -
9:43 - 9:45a new material world.
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9:49 - 9:53It's one that moves away
from the exploitation -
9:53 - 9:56of nonrenewable resources
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9:56 - 10:00to working with the original,
renewable life. -
10:01 - 10:03Instead of designing out life,
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10:03 - 10:06we're designing with it and for it.
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10:07 - 10:11Packaging, fashion, footwear,
furniture, construction -- -
10:11 - 10:16biofabricated products can be grown
close to centers of demand, -
10:16 - 10:20with local resources, less land, energy,
-
10:20 - 10:24and even harnessing
industrial waste streams. -
10:25 - 10:29It used to be that the tools
of biotechnology -
10:29 - 10:31were the preserve of powerful,
-
10:31 - 10:36multinational chemical
and biotech companies. -
10:36 - 10:40In the last century,
we expected material innovation -
10:40 - 10:45to come from the likes
of DuPont, Dow, BASF. -
10:45 - 10:51But this 21st-century material revolution
is being led by start-ups -
10:51 - 10:54with small teams and limited capital.
-
10:55 - 10:59And by the way, not all their founders
have science degrees. -
10:59 - 11:03They include artists,
architects and designers. -
11:05 - 11:08Over a billion dollars
has already been invested -
11:08 - 11:12in start-ups biofabricating
consumer products. -
11:13 - 11:18I don't think we have a choice
but to biofabricate our future. -
11:19 - 11:20From the jacket you're wearing
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11:20 - 11:22to the chair you're sitting in
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11:22 - 11:24to the home you live in,
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11:24 - 11:29your designed material world
shouldn't compromise your health -
11:29 - 11:31or that of our planet.
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11:32 - 11:34If materials can't be recycled
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11:34 - 11:36or naturally composted at home,
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11:36 - 11:38we should reject them.
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11:38 - 11:43I'm committed to making
this future a reality -
11:43 - 11:46by shining a light on all the amazing work
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11:46 - 11:48being done today
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11:48 - 11:51and by facilitating more interactions
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11:51 - 11:55between designers, scientists,
investors and brands. -
11:56 - 11:59Because we need a material revolution,
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11:59 - 12:00and we need it now.
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12:01 - 12:02Thank you.
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12:02 - 12:07(Applause)
- Title:
- Why "biofabrication" is the next industrial revolution
- Speaker:
- Suzanne Lee
- Description:
-
What if we could "grow" clothes from microbes, furniture from living organisms and buildings with exteriors like tree bark? TED Fellow Suzanne Lee shares exciting developments from the field of biofabrication and shows how it could help us replace major sources of waste, like plastic and cement, with sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:20
marialadias edited English subtitles for Why "biofabrication" is the next industrial revolution | ||
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Why "biofabrication" is the next industrial revolution | ||
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