WEBVTT

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I started life as a fashion designer,

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working closely with textile designers
and fabric suppliers.

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

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because they're in the soil
beneath our feet,

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on the shelves of our supermarkets

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and in the beer I'm going to drink
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
both what I worked with

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and how I worked,

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after a revelatory collaboration
with a biologist.

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Our project gave me
a different perspective on life,

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introducing a whole new
world of possibility

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around how we can design and make things.

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I discovered a radical
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
plants, animals or oil

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to make consumer materials,

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we might grow materials directly
with living organisms.

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In what many are terming
"the Fourth Industrial Revolution,"

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

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Bacteria, algae, fungi, yeast:

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our latest design tools
include those of biotechnology.

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My own journey in biofabrication

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started with a project
called "Biocouture."

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The provocation was that instead
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
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
in a nutrient-rich liquid,

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we fermented threads of cellulose

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that self-organized
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
into a range of garments, shoes and bags.

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In other words,
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
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
resource efficiencies.

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From reducing the water,
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
additive manufacture."

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Through biofabrication,

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I had replaced many
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,
with no intervention from me

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other than designing initial
conditions for growth,

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efficiently producing a useful,
sustainable material.

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

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

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rethinking materials with biology.

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Multiple companies are now
growing mushroom materials,

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but not literally mushrooms --

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using mycelium, which is
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
described as "nature's glue."

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

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

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add water,

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wait a few days for the mycelium
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
all kinds of structures

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using living organisms,

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from foams that can replace
plastics in footwear,

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to leather-like materials without animals.

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Furniture, flooring -- all
are currently being prototyped.

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Fungi are able to grow materials
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
temperatures than plastics.

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Polystyrene can take thousands
of years to degrade.

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Mushroom packaging materials

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can be naturally composted
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,
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
with living organisms,

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it starts to make previous methods
of manufacture seem illogical.

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Take the humble house brick.

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The cement industry generates
around eight percent

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of global CO2 emissions.

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

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The cement process
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
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
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
are nearly three times stronger

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than a concrete block.

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And in stark contrast
to traditional cement production,

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they store more carbon than they make.

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So if we could replace
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
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
to marginalize -- life --

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might actually be
our greatest collaborator.

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

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that we can grow healthy microbes
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
are designed to invite life in.

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

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towards cultivating life,

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we'd turn the negative image
of the urban jungle

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into one that literally embodies
a thriving, living ecosystem.

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By actively encouraging surface
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
used to heat or cool our buildings.

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We're just beginning
to realize the potential

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of nature-based technologies.

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

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a new material world.

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It's one that moves away
from the exploitation

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of nonrenewable resources

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to working with the original,
renewable life.

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Instead of designing out life,

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we're designing with it and for it.

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Packaging, fashion, footwear,
furniture, construction --

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biofabricated products can be grown
close to centers of demand,

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with local resources, less land, energy,

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and even harnessing
industrial waste streams.

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It used to be that the tools
of biotechnology

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were the preserve of powerful,

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multinational chemical
and biotech companies.

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In the last century,
we expected material innovation

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to come from the likes
of DuPont, Dow, BASF.

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But this 21st-century material revolution
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
have science degrees.

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They include artists,
architects and designers.

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Over a billion dollars
has already been invested

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in start-ups biofabricating
consumer products.

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I don't think we have a choice
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,

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your designed material world
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
this future a reality

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by shining a light on all the amazing work

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being done today

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and by facilitating more interactions

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between designers, scientists,
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.

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(Applause)