0:00:01.667,0:00:05.229
I started life as a fashion designer,

0:00:05.253,0:00:09.486
working closely with textile designers[br]and fabric suppliers.

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But today, I can no longer see[br]or talk to my new collaborators,

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because they're in the soil[br]beneath our feet,

0:00:18.458,0:00:20.846
on the shelves of our supermarkets

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and in the beer I'm going to drink[br]when I finish this talk.

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I'm talking about microbes

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and designing with life.

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Fifteen years ago,

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I completely changed[br]both what I worked with

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and how I worked,

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after a revelatory collaboration[br]with a biologist.

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Our project gave me[br]a different perspective on life,

0:00:46.688,0:00:49.811
introducing a whole new[br]world of possibility

0:00:49.835,0:00:52.958
around how we can design and make things.

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I discovered a radical[br]manufacturing proposition:

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biofabrication.

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Literally, fabricating with biology.

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What does that mean?

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Well, instead of processing[br]plants, animals or oil

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to make consumer materials,

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we might grow materials directly[br]with living organisms.

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In what many are terming[br]"the Fourth Industrial Revolution,"

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we're thinking about the new factories[br]as being living cells.

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Bacteria, algae, fungi, yeast:

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our latest design tools[br]include those of biotechnology.

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My own journey in biofabrication

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started with a project[br]called "Biocouture."

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The provocation was that instead[br]of growing a plant, like cotton,

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in a field over several months,

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we could use microbes to grow[br]a similar cellulose material in a lab

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in a few days.

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Using a certain species of bacteria[br]in a nutrient-rich liquid,

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we fermented threads of cellulose

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that self-organized[br]into a sheet of fabric.

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I dried the fabric I had grown

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and cut and sewed it[br]into a range of garments, shoes and bags.

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In other words,[br]in one lab we grew materials

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and turned them into a range of products

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in a matter of days.

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And this is in contrast[br]to currents methods of fabric production,

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where a plant is grown,

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just the cotton part is harvested,

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processed into a yarn,

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woven into a fabric

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and then potentially shipped across oceans

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before being cut and sewn into a garment.

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All of that can take months.

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So these prototypes indicated a field

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offering significant[br]resource efficiencies.

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From reducing the water,[br]energy and chemistry needed

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in the production of a material,

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through to generating zero waste,

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we grew fabrics to finished form --

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if you like, "biological[br]additive manufacture."

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Through biofabrication,

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I had replaced many[br]intensive man-made steps

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with one biological step.

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And as I engaged with this living system,

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it transformed my design thinking.

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Here was biology,[br]with no intervention from me

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other than designing initial[br]conditions for growth,

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efficiently producing a useful,[br]sustainable material.

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So now I can't help but see all materials[br]through the lens of biofabrication.

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In fact, there's a growing[br]global community of innovators

0:03:59.324,0:04:02.887
rethinking materials with biology.

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Multiple companies are now[br]growing mushroom materials,

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but not literally mushrooms --

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using mycelium, which is[br]the root system of fungi,

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to bind together agricultural byproducts.

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It's a process that's been[br]described as "nature's glue."

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A common way to do this[br]is to take a 3-D mold,

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fill it with a waste crop[br]like corn stalks or hemp,

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add water,

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wait a few days for the mycelium[br]to grow throughout,

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remove the mold,

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and you're left with a grown 3-D form.

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Incredibly, we can grow[br]all kinds of structures

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using living organisms,

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from foams that can replace[br]plastics in footwear,

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to leather-like materials without animals.

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Furniture, flooring -- all[br]are currently being prototyped.

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Fungi are able to grow materials[br]that are naturally fire retardant,

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without any chemicals.

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They're naturally hydrophobic,

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meaning they won't absorb water.

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They have higher melt[br]temperatures than plastics.

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Polystyrene can take thousands[br]of years to degrade.

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Mushroom packaging materials

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can be naturally composted[br]in your back garden,

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in as little as 30 days.

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Living organisms are transforming waste

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into cost-competitive,[br]performance-matching materials

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that can start to replace plastics

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and other CO2-emitting materials.

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And once we start growing materials[br]with living organisms,

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it starts to make previous methods[br]of manufacture seem illogical.

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Take the humble house brick.

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The cement industry generates[br]around eight percent

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of global CO2 emissions.

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That's more than all the planes[br]and ships each year.

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The cement process[br]requires materials to be fired in a kiln

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at over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Compare this to bioMASON.

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They use a soil microbe[br]to transform loose aggregates,

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like sand or crushed stone,

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into a biofabricated, or biocement, brick.

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Their process happens at room temperature,

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in just a couple of days.

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Think hydroponics for bricks.

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An irrigation system[br]feeds nutrient-rich water

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to trays of bricks

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that have been inoculated with bacteria.

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The bacteria produce crystals

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that form around each grain of sand,

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locking together all the loose particles

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to form a solid brick.

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We can now grow construction materials

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in the elegant way nature does,

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just like a coral reef.

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And these biofabricated bricks[br]are nearly three times stronger

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than a concrete block.

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And in stark contrast[br]to traditional cement production,

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they store more carbon than they make.

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So if we could replace[br]the 1.2 trillion fired bricks

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that are made each year

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with biofabricated bricks,

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we could reduce CO2 emissions

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by 800 million tons every year.

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(Applause)

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Beyond growing materials[br]with living organisms,

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we're even starting to design products

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that encourage their growth.

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And this comes from the realization

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that the very thing we've been trying[br]to marginalize -- life --

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might actually be[br]our greatest collaborator.

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To that end, we've been[br]exploring all the ways

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that we can grow healthy microbes[br]in our own ecosystems.

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A great example of this is architects

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who are imagining the skin of a building

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to function like the bark of a tree.

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But not as a cosmetic green layer.

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They're designing architectural barks

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as hosts for evolving ecologies.

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These surface structures[br]are designed to invite life in.

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And if we applied the same energy[br]we currently do suppressing forms of life

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towards cultivating life,

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we'd turn the negative image[br]of the urban jungle

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into one that literally embodies[br]a thriving, living ecosystem.

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By actively encouraging surface[br]interactions with healthy microbes,

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we could improve passive climate control,

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stormwater management,

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and even reduce CO2 emissions

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by lowering the energy[br]used to heat or cool our buildings.

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We're just beginning[br]to realize the potential

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of nature-based technologies.

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I'm excited that we're starting[br]to design and biofabricate

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a new material world.

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It's one that moves away[br]from the exploitation

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of nonrenewable resources

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to working with the original,[br]renewable life.

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Instead of designing out life,

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we're designing with it and for it.

0:10:06.934,0:10:10.968
Packaging, fashion, footwear,[br]furniture, construction --

0:10:10.992,0:10:16.143
biofabricated products can be grown[br]close to centers of demand,

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with local resources, less land, energy,

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and even harnessing[br]industrial waste streams.

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It used to be that the tools[br]of biotechnology

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were the preserve of powerful,

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multinational chemical[br]and biotech companies.

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In the last century,[br]we expected material innovation

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to come from the likes[br]of DuPont, Dow, BASF.

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But this 21st-century material revolution[br]is being led by start-ups

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with small teams and limited capital.

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And by the way, not all their founders[br]have science degrees.

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They include artists,[br]architects and designers.

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Over a billion dollars[br]has already been invested

0:11:08.316,0:11:12.260
in start-ups biofabricating[br]consumer products.

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I don't think we have a choice[br]but to biofabricate our future.

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From the jacket you're wearing

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to the chair you're sitting in

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to the home you live in,

0:11:23.772,0:11:29.355
your designed material world[br]shouldn't compromise your health

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or that of our planet.

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If materials can't be recycled

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or naturally composted at home,

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we should reject them.

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I'm committed to making[br]this future a reality

0:11:42.561,0:11:46.203
by shining a light on all the amazing work

0:11:46.227,0:11:47.759
being done today

0:11:47.783,0:11:50.791
and by facilitating more interactions

0:11:50.815,0:11:55.255
between designers, scientists,[br]investors and brands.

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Because we need a material revolution,

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and we need it now.

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Thank you.

0:12:02.112,0:12:06.577
(Applause)