Lisa Dyson: A forgotten Space Age technology could change how we grow food
Lisa Dyson: Una tecnología olvidada de la era espacial puede cambiar la manera de cultivar la tierra
Lisa Dyson thinks a new class of crops might help us reinvent agriculture -- and feed the world. Full bio
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de un equipo de astronautas
of a crew of astronauts
o a algún planeta lejano.
ingeniárselas
to figure out how to produce food
llevarse unos paquetes de semillas
just a few packets of seeds,
después produjeran más semillas
would then make more seeds,
que llevaban para el viaje?
for the duration of the trip?
figured out a way to do this.
idearon una manera para lograr esto.
es bastante interesante.
was actually quite interesting.
were called hydrogenotrophs,
crear un círculo virtuoso de carbono
you can create a virtuous carbon cycle
a bordo de una nave espacial.
onboard a spacecraft.
carbon dioxide,
be captured by the microbes
nutritivo y rico en carbono.
carbon-rich crop.
ese cultivo rico en carbono
that carbon-rich crop
en forma de dióxido de carbono
in the form of carbon dioxide,
por los microbios
by the microbes,
in the form of carbon dioxide
un ciclo cerrado de carbono.
carbon cycle is created.
carbono para sobrevivir
any carbon along the way,
una manera de reciclarlo a bordo.
how to recycle it on board.
no llegó a ninguna parte.
didn't really go anywhere.
We haven't yet gone to another planet.
Todavía no hemos ido a otro planeta.
en los 60 y 70.
in the '60s and '70s.
investigamos el reciclaje
Dr. John Reed, and I,
in carbon recycling here on Earth.
with technical solutions
in the '60s -- 1967 and later --
en los 60 (1967 y más adelante)
en realidad es como una nave espacial".
is actually like a spaceship.
y unos recursos limitados,
and limited resources,
necesitamos averiguar
need to figure out
nuestro carbono.
de la NASA y aplicarlas
NASA-type ideas and apply them
estos microbios de la NASA
these NASA-type microbes
aquí en la Tierra?
valuable products here on Earth?
que estos hidrógeno-tróficos
that these hydrogenotrophs --
de carbono súper-cargados,
nature's supercharged carbon recyclers --
class of microbes
and understudied,
algunos productos muy valiosos.
some really valuable products.
estos microbios, en el laboratorio,
these microbes, in our lab.
podemos sacar aminoácidos esenciales
essential amino acids from carbon dioxide
una comida rica en proteínas
similar a lo que se encuentra
similar to what you might find
para manufacturar muchos productos.
many products.
a un aceite de cítrico,
to a citrus oil,
o para fragancias,
and for fragrances,
como un limpiador biodegradable,
as a biodegradable cleaner
that's similar to palm oil.
para manufacturar
de consumo e industriales
and industrial goods.
para aumentar esta tecnología,
to scale up this technology,
de estos productos al mercado.
puede ayudarnos
can indeed help us
y convertirlo en productos valiosos,
into valuable products --
beneficioso para los negocios.
for the planet
y el uso de estos microbios
and using these types of microbes
algo aún más grande
do something even greater
los problemas de la agricultura
an issue with agriculture
a type of agriculture that's sustainable,
to meet the demands of tomorrow.
las demandas del futuro.
a sustainable agriculture?
una agricultura sostenible?
about 10 billion by 2050,
los 10 000 millones en 2050
aumentar la producción de comida
to increase food production
recursos y materias primas
resources and raw materials
e industriales.
and industrial goods.
para cubrir esta demanda?
sustainably scale to meet that demand.
is one of the largest emitters
es uno de los mayores emisores
simply takes up a whole lot of land.
utiliza mucho espacio de tierra.
for crops and livestock.
a los cultivos y la ganadería.
of South America and Africa combined.
de Sudamérica y África juntos.
of virgin rainforest was cleared
un espacio de selva virgen
entre 2000 y 2012.
of approximately Ireland,
y la diversidad
of the species, the diversity,
o de animales.
or animal life.
un sumidero natural de carbono.
was also removed.
para hacer lugar para cultivos.
to make room for palm plantations.
para fabricar muchos productos.
to manufacture many products.
un 50 % de los productos de consumo
that over 50 percent of consumer products
galletas...
like ice cream, cookies ...
lotions, soaps.
probably have numerous items
probablemente muchas cosas
of removed rainforests.
la desaparición de las selvas.
si queremos crecer sosteniblemente.
if we want to scale sustainably.
pueden ser parte de la solución;
can be a part of the answer --
de carbono súper-cargados.
carbon recyclers.
de carbono súper-cargados,
sirven como recicladores naturales
the natural recyclers
o las aguas termales.
they take carbon and recycle it
toman el carbono y lo reciclan,
necesarios en esos ecosistemas.
for those ecosystems.
minerals and carbohydrates.
minerales y carbohidratos.
parte integral de nuestra vida diaria.
an integral part of our everyday lives.
on a Friday night,
un viernes por la noche,
a product of microbes.
un producto de los microbios.
en su cervecería más cercana,
from your local microbrewery --
with these supercharged carbon recyclers
recicladores de carbono súper-cargados
pueden producir en cuestión de horas
actually produce in a matter of hours
lo que lo hacemos hoy en día.
en cualquier estación,
y en cualquier lugar.
que requieren un espacio mínimo.
that require minimal space.
of vertical agriculture.
de agricultura vertical.
horizontal agriculture
agricultura horizontal
produce much more product per area.
en la misma área.
y usamos estos recicladores de carbono,
and use these carbon recyclers,
any more rainforests
that we consume.
y los bienes que consumimos.
una producción 10 000 veces mayor
more output per land area
por ejemplo, semillas de soja,
if you used soybeans --
on that same area of land
en la misma área
que la producción de un año.
over a period of a year.
by a new type of agriculture.
de un nuevo tipo de agricultura.
de desarrollar un sistema que
by developing a system
to meet the demands of 10 billion.
la demanda de 10 000 millones de personas.
of this new type of agriculture?
de esta nueva agricultura?
una comida de proteínas,
a una comida de soja,
similar to a soybean meal,
similar to coconut oil
al aceite de coco,
actually produce the nutrients
productos nutritivos variados.
para fabricar muchos otros productos,
to manufacture multiple other goods,
detergentes, jabones, cremas, etc.
detergents, soaps, lotions, etc.,
como hasta ahora
under the status quo
of a beautiful planet.
descendientes de este hermoso planeta.
al planeta Tierra, nuestra nave espacial,
planet Earth, our spaceship,
sistemas y formas de vida
and ways of living
to the lives of ourselves
que habrá en este planeta en 2050.
be on this planet by 2050.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lisa Dyson - Sustainability crusaderLisa Dyson thinks a new class of crops might help us reinvent agriculture -- and feed the world.
Why you should listen
Dr. Lisa Dyson is the CEO of Kiverdi, a technology company with a mission to develop innovations that go beyond traditional agriculture to help us feed and power a growing world, one that will include 3 billion more people by 2050. Kiverdi's bio-process uses natural microbes to convert CO2 into the proteins and oils that are the same as the ones we use today for sustenance and to power industry.
Dyson holds a PhD in physics from MIT and has done research in bioengineering, energy and physics at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Princeton University, among others. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, where she received a master of science, and has degrees in physics and mathematics from Brandeis University.
Dyson has broad business experience developing corporate strategies in a number of industries including in chemicals, packaging, energy, automotive, telecommunications and non-profits. While at The Boston Consulting Group, Dyson worked with executives at multi-national corporations to help them solve strategic business problems including cutting operational costs, expanding internationally, franchising, developing governance structures, designing effective organizations and developing market entry strategies.
Lisa Dyson | Speaker | TED.com