Mark Twain said, “The public is the only critic whose opinion means anything at all.” This holds true for many hotly debated topics, and genetically modified organisms — better known as GMOs — are certainly no exception. And, while there are many advocates who are clearly pro- or anti-GMO, both sides seem to be fighting for the same worthwhile goals — safe, abundant food for all, fewer toxic chemicals used on farms globally and a more sustainable food system.

On the closing night of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018 (ONE18), attendees were invited to gather at the historic Kentucky Theater for a private showing of the 2016 documentary “Food Evolution.” The Institute of Food Technologists funded the film in an effort to inspire discussion and debate about the food-related challenges that we face globally, the instrumental role that science will play in addressing these issues and public perception surrounding the science of food.

At the film’s conclusion, a panel discussion with two of our ONE18 speakers — Crystal Mackay, president of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, and Jack Bobo, senior vice president and chief communications officer at Intrexon — was led by Irish broadcaster Damien O’Reilly from RTÉ Radio 1.

Focused on food and future

The panel and audience had many valuable insights on both sides of the debate.

Jack Bobo spent 13 years working in global food policy at the U.S. Department of State and spent three years working with the producers of the film.

“I actually told them not to do a film about GMOs because it’s too provocative,” he said.

Bobo strongly feels that values trump science when it comes to issues like this. In fact, he said, he “never once met someone that was anti-science. Stop telling people what you do and tell them why you do it. The science won’t matter to most people.”

MacKay said we need to change the conversation to instead discuss our common goals.

“This technology [in particular] has been thrown under the bus due to a myriad of other issues — anti-corporate, anti-greed, etc., so how do we communicate about a complicated truth over simple lies?” she asked.

Bobo then remarked, “Every regulatory industry in the world has concluded that GMOs aren’t harmful.”

He believes topics like this have more to do with tribalism than anything else.

“[Our friends] feel a certain way about something, and we want to be a part of their crowd more than we want to worry about [scientific fact],” he said.

In the same vein, when was the last time we changed our minds about something? Anything is possible. Bobo even admitted that he first felt production agriculture was the only solution until he learned more about organic farming and what it brings to the table in terms of addressing food system challenges. It would seem that a combination of both practices may be warranted.

As an audience member wisely pointed out, “Is the real issue here not so much whether the science is right or wrong, but instead communication?” Our panelists agreed that more transparency would be helpful but that the issue remains complex. One thing is certain: We were all given a great deal of food for thought as we consider how we might move forward in feeding a hungry world.

“If a customer is telling you they want something, guess who else they are telling?” professor Robert Wolcott asked the audience at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18). “Your competition. So, how do you find out what the customer wants before they want it?”

The clinical professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University told the attendees of ONE18 the secret to surviving long-term in a disruptive industry.

“We must ask better questions,” he said.

A business survival guide

“We cannot predict the future in detail,” said Wolcott. “But we can provide foresight.”

Part of the foresight that accompanies great ideas entails reflecting on the history of what many considered to be the “best” companies over the past few decades. IBM, Xerox and Kodak were just a few of many other corporations that had two things in common:

1)     Near death experiences. Each company was on the verge of extinction before reinventing and adapting to its surroundings.

2)     They were all “the very best company on the planet for decades,” explained Wolcott. However, history shows that any company is vulnerable to possible extinction.

Luckily, Wolcott shared his two tips for how companies can evolve and thrive in ever-changing markets:

1)     Fortification: Extend and defend the core business.

2)     Exploration: Create growth through exploring future opportunities.

A business’ product will not remain the most revolutionary idea to consumers forever. There are other companies that are trying to do things bigger, better and faster. Competition is tough, and top businesses can quickly transition from predators in the industry to prey.

“We must rise to the occasion, whether we succeed or not,” encouraged Wolcott. “It is in the attempt that we grow as human beings and as organizations.”

Technological trend-setters

Wolcott continued his talk by referencing many new technologies and business practices that are shaking up the industry:

1)     Electric cars were considered a hassle by consumers for many years. An exaggerated fear of running out of battery in the middle of a busy highway plagued minds of worried potential buyers. However, Wolcott informed the audience that there are electric cars that can travel 1,000 miles before running out of battery. Millions of dollars are being invested in charging stations for easy, convenient plug-ins nationally.

Listening to customer needs — and anticipating that there would be resistance to a new technology — resulted in the foresight to create an automobile that doesn’t cause more questions, but instead provides answers.

“If we always look in the same places, we will only find the same answers,” said Wolcott.

However, is it too late for electric cars? Are self-driving cars the way of the future?

2)     For three years, said Wolcott, Amazon has been anticipating the orders of users and stocking them in a nearby warehouse, ready for shipping. Wolcott informed the audience that if a user clicks, or even hovers, over the same product in the online store more than once, Amazon will anticipate that the user is just a few more clicks away from making a purchase. When the customer finally decides to pull the trigger and buy the item they have been eyeing for weeks, Amazon will already have it nearby.

“Human beings want what they want, where they want it, when they want it,” said Wolcott.

Amazon’s method, called “anticipatory shipping,” is foresight personified.

3)     “Today, we have a global supply chain. The larger the plant, the lower your costs,” explained Wolcott. “Over the next 30 years, this model will be destroyed.”

He reassured the audience that global supply chain won’t disappear completely, as some will still be vital, but soon, 3D printing will take over. Why would extra tools, resources and employees be necessary to build something over the span of days, weeks or months, when 3D printing could provide it in minutes?

“In our lifetimes, we might be able to have a 3D printing machine on our counters,” said Wolcott.

So, what are the right questions?

According to Wolcott, we are on the right track. The question we are used to asking, Wolcott says, is, “How can this technology help us be better at what we already do?”

“This is a great question,” said Wolcott. “Keep asking it. But that’s not enough.”

Instead, he challenged everyone with new questions:

1)     “What can this technology help us do that we have never done before?”

Is it innovative like electric cars? Expedient like anticipatory shopping? Convenient like 3D printing?

Wolcott explains that often the right questions come from people investigating their own future.

2)     “In a world of increasing technology,” explains Wolcott, “we can do anything. What can we do and why?”

What purpose does this new technology serve? Is it making lives easier? Can it grow with time?

3)     “Where might the future go?”

Is the idea sustainable? Does it keep up with the trends that are found through foresight?

But, overall, the foresight needed to survive in an ever-changing industry and to create the next big idea is in search of a very noble cause.

“To make the world a better place,” explained Wolcott. “That is what motivates people more than anything else.”

"CRISPR” (pronounced “crisper”) stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are the hallmark of a bacterial defense system that forms the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology, according to the Broad Institute. This natural enzyme system has the capability to influence the genetic makeup of our cells and everything around us, which means it also has the potential to revolutionize many different aspects of our lives.

For the first time in the history of the Alltech annual conference, the company bestowed a double award recognizing Alltech’s founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons. The extraordinary entrepreneur recently passed away and the ONE 18, Alltech Ideas Conference has provided an opportunity to celebrate his life and achievements.

Click here to view the full article. 

Announcement made during exciting exploration of ideas and innovation at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18)

[LEXINGTON, Ky.] – Now in its 13th year, the Alltech Young Scientist program returned to reward university students for their innovative scientific research. The world’s largest agriscience program of its kind culminated at ONE18, where eight finalists — four graduate students and four undergraduate students — presented their research to a panel of international judges.

The undergraduate winner of $5,000 and a fully funded Ph.D. program at the university of her choice is Leesa-Joy Flanagan, representing the University of Adelaide in Australia. Her work focused on the effects of different sources of undegradable dietary protein on lamb growth, daily weight gain and voluntary feed intake.

The graduate winner of $10,000 and a fully funded postdoctoral position is Saheed Salami, representing the University of Catania in Italy. His research investigated cardoon meal as a novel feed and its effect on lamb performance, rumen function and meat quality.

The newly added Impact Award recognized a project with the potential to make a significant impact on agriculture. The winner of the $1,000 prize is Moisés Poli from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil. His research focused on Pacific white shrimp and Nile tilapia integration in a biofloc system under different fish stocking densities.

“We reviewed projects representing 86 universities,” said Dr. Karl Dawson, vice president and chief scientific officer at Alltech. “These young scientists demonstrate that the future of scientific discovery is bright.”

On its closing day, ONE18 highlighted the importance of fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across all sectors of business and agriculture. Reflecting that spirit, The Pearse Lyons Accelerator returned for the second year, bringing eight startups to the conference’s mainstage. The next generation of ag-tech ideas were pitched to a global audience of thousands, including international press and potential investors. The unique opportunity for startups is a collaborative project between Alltech and Dogpatch Labs, Ireland’s leading startup hub.

The 2018 Pearse Lyons Accelerator participants include:

• ENTOCYCLE

From the United Kingdom, the world's first environmentally controlled, fully automated system to produce industrial levels of Black Soldier Fly protein.

• SMARTBOW

From Austria, a SMART eartag sensor to monitor the activity and position of each animal. Provides farmers with information to make reliable decisions.

• eggXYT

Technology that allows hatcheries and chicken breeders to detect the gender of chicken embryos.

• VENCE

From the United States, virtual fencing and autonomous animal control. Vence enables management and monitoring of livestock via smartphones.

• PEN/POINT

From the United States, a combination of real-time data and nutritional breakthroughs to tackle Bovine Respiratory Disease for healthier cattle and a safer beef supply.

• adentro

From the United States, technology that naturally activates bio-immunity in plants by switching on its defense genes.

• truly

From the United States, personalized supplement programs backed by nutrigenomics research.  Designed to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases and to meet daily nutrient needs.

• Alltech SMART dairy

From Canada, a program designed to deploy Alltech's nutrition and ag-tech breakthroughs to farms via nutritionists.

“Six of the 10 participants last year were listed as top 100 agri-tech companies in the world,” said Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer at Alltech. “That is indicative of the companies applying.”

Connolly noted that last year’s participants in The Pearse Lyons Accelerator were able to access 28 new markets and generate a total of $50 million in qualified leads.

Tuesday’s keynote lineup included Beth Comstock, who served as vice chair of General Electric and president of integrated media at NBCUniversal. She urged the audience to rediscover the power of imagination without fear of failure.

 “We can no longer fail to imagine,” she said. “We can no longer fail to fail. What are you going to give yourself permission to try?”

The ONE18 mainstage also welcomed David E. Bell, professor of agriculture and business at Harvard Business School, and Robert Wolcott, clinical professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

More than 3,600 attendees from 76 countries convened at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, from May 20–22 to explore innovative ideas in science, agriculture and business.

The 34th annual conference demonstrated the forward-focused energy of Alltech as the company continues the mission of its visionary founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons, who passed away March 8.

“Together we can work toward a planet of plenty,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president of Alltech. “What is your ONE big idea? Share it and make it happen.”

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference will be back in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, May 19–21, 2019. Visit one.alltech.com to learn more and to experience the highlights from ONE18.

“I have a confession to make,” said Beth Comstock, former vice chair at General Electric and the first woman ever to hold the post. “I call myself a change-maker, but I have to tell you — I really don’t like change.

“But, the reality is,” she continued, “like change or not, we have to be ready for it.”

So, how do we get our heads around change? During her presentation at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, Comstock said that the key is to shift your mindset.

“It really comes down to this one thing,” she said. “You have to imagine a future that few others can see, and then you have to take action to make it happen.”

Everyone, she emphasized, is capable of exactly that if you follow these three tips:

1. Change starts with giving yourself permission

“Change isn’t really the scary part,” said Comstock. “It’s that most of us don’t know how to handle change.”

The thing that is holding us back? Fear.

In today’s hyperconnected world, in which we often focus more on efficiency than on creativity, she said we have to move forward without knowing all the answers.

A critical part of the problem is something that Comstock calls the “imagination gap,” where “possibility goes to die.”

Our search for greater efficiency and perfection has developed an almost mechanical work culture that fears creativity and failure. Not only is “failure” a word we refuse to talk about in our organizations — 75 percent of people say they do not feel creative at work — it is putting pressure on children as well, a time when developing imagination is critical.

Comstock believes this imagination gap is holding us back by crowding out the very human nature of us.

“Everyone’s job is now change,” she said. “You can’t delegate it. You have to understand it starts with you.”

The number one way to shift your mindset and achieve change is to give yourself, and your teams, permission to change, including trying and testing new things. This includes giving yourself permission to fail.

Comstock has even given herself and her team members physical “permission slips” to express fear and give themselves permission to try things that might not work. Importantly, this permission also includes giving feedback to other team members to foster accountability.

“Feedback is oxygen for a change-ready mindset,” she said. “Seek it. Give it. Use it.”

What do you fear? Pinpointing that fear, and engaging with it head-on, is the first step to creating and better adapting to change.

2. Make room for discovery

“You have to lead with curiosity,” said Comstock. “You have to see for yourself.”

To do so, she suggests “wallowing” in an idea, which includes getting to know your team members, your market and where change is happening, as well as spotting trends. She also urges investigating points of view that contradict your own and going on journeys of discovery with your entire team.

As someone who loves patterns, Comstock recommends looking for connections and following her “going on 3’s” rule: If you spot an occurrence of something new three times, it may be a trend that is worth paying attention to, such as video streaming and the craft beer movement.

Ten percent of your time, she said, is spent on what you already know. Instead, we should be focusing that time on creating something new.

“Most people think they don’t have the time, that this isn’t their job,” said Comstock.

An easy, business school-based breakdown of how you might spend your time more innovatively might look like this, she said:

• 70 percent on core innovations, or the projects on which you are already focusing
• 20 percent on what’s next, or today’s fresh, new ideas (e.g., CRISPR gene-editing technology)
• 10 percent on what’s new, or the ideas that have the potential to change the world five, 10 or 20 years from now

Even though 10 percent might not sound like much, taking even this small amount of time to look beyond the status quo and innovate new ideas can reap big rewards.

“What’s your 10 percent?” asked Comstock, inviting the audience to identify time that they could spend thinking innovatively. “I know you have it! How are you going to liberate your teams to go out and discover?”

3. Embed learning — and failure — into your operating system

We must engage the world as our classroom, and the way to do so is to change our work culture, including the words we use and the actions we take.

“Learning cultures require that you put more questions into the system than answers,” said Comstock.

One of the most powerful outcomes of promoting continuously learning and empowering your team, she said, is finding out that there are many entrepreneurs in your organization. Find these people who are not afraid to make messes and support them in creating new ideas — and allowing them to kill those ideas when they simply are not ready.

At General Electric, Comstock applied this method in the wider community as well, partnering with local startups to solve a critical appliance problem. By “open sourcing” the problem, she explained that you can narrow your window of risk, bring integrated teams together and create more options so that when change arrives, you can be more confident about what ideas are appropriate to scale.

Not only should learning be a key element of work culture — so should failure.

“If failure isn’t an option,” said Comstock, “neither is success.”

She encourages inviting your team to share what went wrong with an idea, what they learned and how they plan to make it better moving forward. In order to be truly ready for change, we need more people with imagination to fight for the future, despite fear of failure.

Imagination isn’t a glitch, she said. In fact, it’s our best feature.

“I’m a beginner,” admitted Comstock. “I don’t have the answer yet — I don’t even know what the question is. But I’m committed to figuring it out.”

"Tengo algo que confesarles", dijo Beth Comstock, ex vicepresidente de General Electric y la primera mujer en ocupar la posición. "Me describo a mí misma como creadora de cambios, pero tengo que decirles que realmente no me gusta el cambio.

"Pero, la realidad es", continuó, " nos guste o no, tenemos que estar preparados para este".

Por lo tanto, ¿cómo enfrentamos el cambio? Durante su presentación en ONE: La Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech, Comstock expresó que la clave es cambiar la forma de pensar.

"Realmente se reduce a esto", dijo. "Tienen que imaginar un futuro que pocos pueden ver, y luego tienen que tomar medidas para que esto ocurra".

Ella enfatizó que todo el mundo es capaz de lograrlo si siguen estos tres consejos: 

1. El cambio comienza con el permiso

"El cambio no es realmente la parte más temible", dijo Comstock. "El problema es que la mayoría de nosotros no sabemos cómo manejar el cambio".

¿Qué nos está frenando? El miedo.

En el mundo hiperconectado de hoy, en el que a menudo nos enfocamos más en la eficiencia que en la creatividad, ella expresó que tenemos que avanzar aún sin conocer todas las respuestas.

Una parte crítica del problema es algo que Comstock llama la "brecha de la imaginación", donde "la posibilidad muere".

Nuestra búsqueda por una mayor eficiencia y perfección ha desarrollado una cultura de trabajo casi mecánica que teme a la creatividad y el fracaso. El "fracaso" no solo es una palabra que nos rehusamos a usar en nuestras organizaciones, el 75 por ciento de las personas dicen que no se sienten creativas en el trabajo; también ejerce presión sobre los niños, un momento en el que el desarrollo de la imaginación es fundamental.

Comstock cree que esta brecha de la imaginación nos está frenando al desplazar nuestra naturaleza humana.

"El trabajo de todos ahora es el cambio", dijo. "No se puede delegar. Tienen que entender que comienza con uno mismo".

La principal manera de cambiar su mentalidad y lograr el cambio es otorgarle a usted y a sus equipos permiso para cambiar, incluso probar y experimentar cosas nuevas. Esto incluye permiso al fracaso.

Comstock incluso se ha dado a sí misma y a los miembros de su equipo "autorizaciones" en papel para expresar miedo y tener la posibilidad de probar cosas que podrían no funcionar. Es importante destacar que este permiso también incluye la retroalimentación a otros miembros del equipo para fomentar la responsabilidad.

"La retroalimentación es el oxígeno para una mentalidad lista para el cambio", expresó. "Búsquenla. Ofrézcanla. Úsenla".

¿A qué temen? Identificar ese miedo y comprometerse a enfrentarlo es el primer paso para crear y adaptarse mejor al cambio.

2. Den lugar al descubrimiento

"Tienen que liderar con curiosidad", dijo Comstock. "Tienen que hacerlo ustedes mismos".

Para lograrlo, ella sugiere "sumergirse" en una idea, lo cual incluye conocer a los miembros de su equipo, su mercado y dónde está sucediendo el cambio, así como también detectar tendencias. También sugiere investigar puntos de vista que contradigan los suyos y realizar viajes de descubrimiento con todo su equipo.

Como alguien que adora los estándares, Comstock recomienda buscar conexiones y seguir sus reglas "avanzar en 3 etapas": si detectan tres veces la incidencia de algo nuevo, puede ser una tendencia a la cual vale la pena prestar atención, como la transmisión de videos y el movimiento de la cerveza artesanal.

El diez por ciento de nuestro tiempo, comentó, se usa en lo que ya sabemos. A diferencia, deberíamos enfocar ese tiempo en crear algo nuevo.

"La mayoría de las personas piensan que no tienen el tiempo, que este no es su trabajo", dijo Comstock.

Cualquier desglose fácil, basado en estudios de escuelas de negocios sobre cómo puede pasar su tiempo de forma más innovadora, ella señaló, podría ser así:

• 70 por ciento en innovaciones centrales, o en los proyectos en los que ya está enfocado
• 20 por ciento en lo que sigue, o ideas nuevas (ejemplo: la tecnología de edición génica CRISPR)
• 10 por ciento en novedades, o ideas que tienen el potencial de cambiar el mundo en cinco, 10 o 20 años

Aunque 10 por ciento no parece mucho, tomar aunque sea esta pequeña fracción de tiempo para desafiar el statu quo e innovar con nuevas ideas puede ser muy gratificante.  

"¿Cuál es su 10 por ciento?", preguntó Comstock, invitando a la audiencia a identificar el tiempo que pueden pasar pensando de manera innovadora. "¡Sé que lo tienen! ¿Cómo van a liberar a sus equipos para salir y descubrir?

3. Incorporar el aprendizaje (y la falla) en su sistema operativo

Debemos enfrentar al mundo como nuestro salón de clases, y la forma de hacerlo es cambiar nuestra cultura de trabajo, incluidas las palabras que usamos y las acciones que tomamos.

"Las culturas de aprendizaje requieren tener más preguntas que respuestas en el sistema", expresó Comstock.

Uno de los resultados más poderosos para promover continuamente el aprendizaje y el empoderamiento de su equipo, dijo, es descubrir que hay muchos emprendedores en su organización. Encuentren a esas personas que no tienen miedo de hacer desastres y apóyenlos en la creación de nuevas ideas, y permítanles eliminar esas ideas cuando simplemente no estén listas.

En General Electric, Comstock también aplicó este método a la comunidad en general, asociándose con startups locales para resolver un problema crítico. Al "abrir la fuente" del problema, explicó que se puede reducir su ventana de riesgo, reunir equipos integrados y crear más opciones para que, cuando llegue el cambio, puedan tener más confianza sobre qué ideas son apropiadas para escalar.

El aprendizaje no solo debe ser un elemento clave de la cultura laboral, también el fracaso.

"Si el fracaso no es una opción", dijo Comstock, "tampoco el éxito".

Ella sugiere invitar a sus equipos a compartir lo que salió mal con una idea, lo que aprendieron y cómo planean hacerlo mejor para seguir adelante. Para estar verdaderamente preparados para el cambio, necesitamos más personas con imaginación para luchar por el futuro, a pesar del miedo al fracaso.

La imaginación no es un problema, expresó. De hecho, es nuestra mejor característica.

"Soy principiante", admitió Comstock. "Todavía no tengo la respuesta, ni siquiera sé cuál es la pregunta. Pero estoy comprometida a buscar la solución".

Suscríbase a Alltech Ideas Lab para ver las presentaciones de ONE.

Dr. Vaughn Holder, Ruminant Research Director at Alltech, speaks about the new Blueprint mineral program on Market Day Report during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference.

Click here to watch the full interview. 

Market Day Report: Mike Castle, Alltech Feed Division CEO speaks to RFD-TV about ONE18.

Click here to watch the full video. 

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018 kicked off Sunday night with the traditional international dinner, but the real work starts this morning and Alltech Vice President Aidan Connolly says they will be focusing on ideas that are disrupting the industry.

Click here to view the full article. 

Diseases, shell quality and mycotoxins – just a few of the challenges that egg producers in the Middle East face. This was stated by Simon Shane in his presentation: Improving efficiency and profitability of egg production in the gulf region, presented at the Alltech poultry seminar at VIV MEA, Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

Click here to view the full article. 

It’s a good time to be in the poultry industry – and least that was the sentiment connecting the seven sessions of the Poultry Interactive Breakout session at ONE 2018, The Alltech Ideas Conference, held May 20-22, 2018.

Click here to view the full article. 

True to its name, ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018 kicked off by showcasing some of today's most innovative ideas, all the way from the gene level to disruptive changes to the future of food and how we produce it. Often described as a nexus of global agriculture and the premier business conference in the region, the day's thought-provoking presentations firmly established ONE18 as the birthplace of life-changing ideas.

Click here to view the full article. 

When Dr. Majid Fotuhi was a young boy, his father said, “Majid, our brain is amazing, and there is no limit to what you can do.”

By the time Fotuhi graduated high school in 1980, his country was at war with Iraq. Rather than face certain death in battle, Fotuhi decided to risk his life by leaving the country. He studied 12 to 16 hours a day, learning English, French and German, unsure of where his journey would lead.

After being smuggled out of the country, Fotuhi went on to receive his M.D. from Harvard Medical School as a member of the Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. His curiosity about why some people have a healthy brain while others show signs of aging led to his studies on neurology, with a specific focus on the hippocampus.

Today, Fotuhi is a widely regarded authority in the field of memory, Alzheimer’s disease and increasing brain vitality in late life.

The devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which affects more than 50 million people worldwide, are often regarded as an inevitable part of the aging process, but Fotuhi says that isn’t so.

“Many of us think that when we get older, our brain function must inevitably go downhill, but that's not true,” said Fotuhi, speaking to the audience at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. “Now we can start doing things to expand our brain.”

Is Fotuhi suggesting it’s possible to actually grow your brain?

“It is possible,” he said. “Brain health can be improved at any age.”

Fotuhi recommends embracing a healthy lifestyle that includes omega-3, meditation, learning something new every day and sleeping well. He initiated a 12-week study wherein participants incorporated these strategies into their daily routines. Using a before-and-after MRI of a participant’s brain, Fotuhi illustrated the significant expansion of the hippocampus, mirroring the brain of someone 10 years younger.

“Having a purpose in life can have an impact on your brain,” said Fotuhi. “If you are someone who feels passionate about your goals, if you have a purpose-driven life, your brain is healthier.”

Fotuhi encouraged the audience to take responsibility for their brain health.

“Think of your brain the same way you think of the health of your teeth,” he urged.

So, with the daily demands of work and life, how does one make brain health a priority? Fotuhi emphasizes reducing stress, not activity.

“You need to do what you love doing,” he said. “It’s not a matter of ‘stop working’ — you need to keep your brain active. There is a difference between being busy and being stressed out.”

Referring to his father’s early sentiments about the brain’s capacity, Fotuhi said, “Now I believe him. Even more so than I did back then.

“Use it or lose it applies to your brain more than it applies to your muscles,” he continued. “The moment you stop using your brain is the moment you go downhill.”

Elise L. Murrell is a writer and editor in the marketing department at Alltech. She works with many types of copy, including global press releases, articles, blogs and other corporate materials, and she also leads writing and grammar training sessions. She received a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Centre College in Kentucky, studied abroad in London, England, and also attended master’s degree courses in journalism at City University of New York in New York City.