Growing $20,000-a-Gram Medicine in a Warehouse | Sam Bertram

"Everyone gets cancer five times a day — your body already knows how to take care of it." Sam Bertram is the co-founder and CEO of OnePointOne, the vertical-farming company behind the Willo brand. With his brother John (CTO), Sam is building fully automated indoor farms — powered by AutoStore robotics, AI, and precision LED light — that grow nutrient-dense produce in about 15 days, with no soil and no sunlight. But the vision goes far beyond salad: using plants as living factories to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade molecules (like monoclonal antibodies) at a fraction of today's cost, and eventually "closing the loop" on human nutrition — food grown to your own blood work. *Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+: * https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/yout... Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance. _____ TOPICS DISCUSSED 00:00 – Cold open: bold claims & who is Sam Bertram 00:51 – Why vertical farms collapse (Bowery) & how OnePointOne survived 05:49 – The number that started it all: 1.1 billion malnourished 07:30 – Why micronutrient deficiency is the real killer 08:21 – What OnePointOne actually is: "a box that grows plants" 10:03 – Training plants with light & water to boost nutrients 11:00 – Closing the loop: food matched to your body's data 12:28 – The plan for 1,000 farms & the AutoStore partnership 15:46 – Plant biology 101: growing with no soil, no sun 18:11 – The robots — and why humans are still essential 21:27 – Pesticides, washing produce & disease clusters 23:53 – Beet greens for cancer patients & the Whole Foods deal 24:42 – A 13-person company run on AI 25:15 – The 15-day crop & cracking the cost code 27:11 – Biology vs. software: what really makes it work 28:01 – Humanoid robots, ~5 years away 30:27 – Why raise $80M and not $500M 33:56 – What they do to a plant that nature never would 36:28 – Expanding crops: strawberries, cannabis, mushrooms 38:05 – Growing food & materials in space (Elon, text back) 39:38 – Personalized food grown from your blood test 40:24 – Food as medicine & the truth about Western medicine 41:11 – Sam's mystery illness: 8 years without exercise 44:23 – Plants as medicine — who "fed and dosed" the world? 49:32 – Manufacturing pharmaceutical molecules inside plants 50:18 – Replicating $30–40k drugs cheaply (Rituximab, Lecanemab) 54:21 – Why the Middle East may beat the US, RFK Jr & MAHA 55:11 – Genetics, cancer & the healthy 80–90% 57:35 – Taste: beating junk food at its own game 58:27 – Why good food got so expensive (money printing) 59:14 – A world without hunger — how far away? 1:00:24 – Tasting the farm: microgreens, bok choy, mizuna & kale _______ Thank you to our sponsors Jones Road Beauty: https://jonesroadbeauty.com Use code LOUISA for a free full-size mascara with your purchase (and mention The Neuro Experience podcast when they ask where you heard about them) Qualia: https://www.qualialife.com/neuro Use code NEURO for 50% off Qualia Magnesium+ Cure Hydration: https://curehydration.com Use code NEURO for 20% off (also available on Amazon) _______ I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics. My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention. If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place. Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0 Instagram: / louisanicola_ Twitter : / louisanicola_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices