#19: Programmable plants - Brad Zamft

I sat down with Brad Zamft, the co-founder and CEO of Heritable Agriculture, to take a deep dive into all the science (both biology and computer science) behind the effort to program plants, why it’s needed and what impacts it might have. Episode links: Heritable Agriculture: https://heritable.ag/Heritable goes after indoor strawberries: https://heritable.ag/heritable-strawberries The sustainability threat of farming: https://vlsci.com/blog/top-issues-in-agriculture-2024/ ; https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supplyThe risks of monoculture and monocropping: https://foodrevolution.org/blog/monocropping-monoculture/The promise of regenerative agriculture: https://theclimatecenter.org/our-work/research/report-the-promise-of-regenerative-agriculture/Farming resiliency in the face of climate change: https://sustainability.mit.edu/article/making-agriculture-more-resilient-climate-changeOutline0:00 – Intro2:18 – Brad’s journey to Heritable Agriculture9:29 – Why we need programmable plants14:23 – Challenges of biology19:38 – Validating the models22:14 – How does this all physically work? 31:05 – The challenge of adjusting 2 billion years of evolutionary success34:48 – The risks of AI cracking plant DNA39:50 – Regenerative Agriculture and tuning for resiliency in the face of climate change47:53 – How farmers view the approach51:59 – Tree adjustments56:28 – The future outlookGet The Deep View — your daily source for in-depth, fact-based reporting on artificial intelligence — in your inbox every morning. Subscribe here! (https://www.thedeepview.co/subscribe)Connect with us on X, TikTok and Instagram.  Artificial intelligence is a complicated topic, bound by a number of complex threads — technical science, ethics, safety, regulation, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, investment and — above all — humanity. On The Deep View: Conversations, Ian Krietzberg, host and Editor-in-Chief at The Deep View, breaks it all down, cutting through the hype to make clear what's important and why you should care.