BIG IDEAS @ScienceStowers

How Science Can Save Our Planet by Reinventing Meat

Scientists agree that the destruction of Earth's climate and environment is an existential threat to our species. Yet most of us feel powerless to respond, unable to find a meaningful way to wield our scientific skills and knowledge in the planetary defense. Brown will show how developing a technology to make meat without the use of animals can reverse global warming and the loss of biodiversity, and why dropping what you are doing and working on this challenge is the single most important endeavor any scientist can pursue.

About the speaker

Patrick O. Brown is CEO and founder of Impossible Foods, a company at the forefront of making nutritious meat and dairy products from plants to satisfy meat lovers and address the environmental impact of animal farming.

The idea for Impossible Foods came to Pat while he was on sabbatical from his position as an HHMI investigator and professor of biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2011, Pat chose to devote his efforts full-time to Impossible Foods.

After receiving his BA, MD, and PhD (in Biochemistry) at the University of Chicago, Pat completed a residency in pediatrics at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital. As a fellow with Mike Bishop, PhD, and Harold Varmus, PhD, he defined the mechanism by which HIV and other retroviruses incorporate their genes into the genomes of the cells they infect. At Stanford, Pat and colleagues developed DNA microarrays – technology to monitor the activity of all genes in a genome – along with the first methods for analyzing, visualizing, and interpreting global gene expression programs. He pioneered the use of gene expression patterns to classify cancers and improve prediction of their clinical course and co-founded the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit scientific publisher that makes scientific and medical research results freely available to the public.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and recipient of the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor. He is also the co-founder of Lyrical Foods, Inc., maker of Kite Hill artisanal nut-milk-based cheeses and yogurts.