The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin's interview with Dr. Gregory Jicha, chief clinician and professor at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center. Click below to hear the full interview:

Tom:              According to the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 47 million people are living with dementia worldwide, and this number will triple by 2050. With a new case diagnosed every three seconds, can we stop the clock on dementia? It’s one of many questions we have for Dr. Gregory Jicha, chief clinician and professor at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Jicha.

Gregory:         Thank you for having me.

Tom:              Given what you know from your research, are you optimistic that we can indeed stop the clock on dementia?

Gregory:         I am an incredibly optimistic person, but my thoughts are based in reality, and, yes, indeed, they are optimistic. We have discovered what causes Alzheimer's disease at almost every level. We have almost every piece solved, and we know how to go about attacking each of those targets with a set national plan in the U.S. of having a cure or medicine for the prevention of Alzheimer's by 2025. That means the medicines we hold in our hands today are the cures of tomorrow.

Tom:              You and your team are actively engaged in several state-of-the-art clinical trials in an effort to find better treatments and investigate potential cures for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Can you tell us what you're looking into?

Gregory:         We're looking into a variety of different mechanisms, and what we know about Alzheimer's is it is a long process that begins about 20 years before the first complaints of memory loss. There is a slow buildup of amyloid in the brain, inflammation and oxidative damage, eventually leading to neurofibrillary tangles, cell death and dementia. So, we are looking at a variety of agents that may prevent the disease initially, and that once it's begun, may abort it at many of the different time points along that pathologic spectrum. The excitement is quite high. We do think that our best opportunities, the most promising medications that we're using currently, are in early prevention or in aborting the process very early on.

Tom:              Some time ago, Alltech and the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging began partnering on research into the properties of the selenium-based Alltech product AT-001. A 2009 study using a mouse model found that the supplement significantly reduced the levels of amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Phase I trial. That study confirmed that the AT-001 seemed to be preventing these plaques from migrating from the spinal fluid to the brain. You now have a Phase II trial underway focusing on volunteers who are at risk for Alzheimer's. Can you bring us up to date on the study?

Gregory:         That's correct. We've had a long-standing relationship with Alltech in moving AT-001 forward from the early animal preclinical studies, which not only have shown an impact on reducing amyloid plaques, suggesting a role in the early prevention and/or treatment of Alzheimer's, but even later stage changes like neurofibrillary tangles.

The Phase I study that we performed was really looking primarily at safety: How high could we push the dose of AT-001 safely in humans? We found no ceiling on that. We went up to 800 milligrams a day — that's 400 micrograms of selenium — and that is much higher than the U.S. RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for selenium. But in this particular form — the form produced by Alltech in the compound AT-001 — safety was not an issue at any dose. We were able to show in that study that we could use the high dose successfully over 12 weeks, and in that 12-week period, we saw tremendous changes in the research participants.

We saw an overall reduction in systemic inflammation — that's inflammation throughout the body — and we also saw very positive trends for reduction of Alzheimer's proteins in the spinal fluid. We've carried that forward now in conjunction with Alltech in a Phase II study. We have a large number of subjects receiving the supplement. Many folks have finished a one-year duration of high-dose treatment with AT-001.

Again, we're not seeing any signals suggestive of any safety concerns whatsoever. I am “blinded,” of course, during the course of the study, so I can't comment on outcome measures as of yet, but I will tell you the last subject out of that study will be December 2018. We hope to have data available by late winter or early spring 2019, which will hopefully confirm everything that we saw in the Phase I study and pave the way not only for AT-001 to make its mark as a supplement for brain health and the potential prevention of Alzheimer-like changes in the brain, but also as the scientists at Alltech move forward, trying to identify the active compounds to purify, to improve the efficacy, the ability of this supplement to promote brain health. I think we have a long road ahead of us with lots of discovery, and it's a very exciting time for us at the University in this partnership with Alltech.

Tom:              We would very much like to follow you on that. When the second phase is over, perhaps we can revisit and see where you are at that point.

Gregory:         Absolutely.

Tom:              Alltech founder Dr. Pearse Lyons was a major proponent of these studies. What do you recall about Dr. Lyons' enthusiasm and support?

Gregory:         Well, Dr. Lyons had inexhaustible energy, in my opinion. I never saw him moving at less than 180 miles an hour — that’s in brain thought processes, not in the rate at which he operated his car. Dr. Lyons was incredibly excited about the potential of AT-001 to impact humans. It's a supplement that's been used in the animal husbandry business for many, many years, and Alltech scientists have noted profound benefits on brain health in those animals. As the first endeavor to move Alltech discoveries directly into human care and disease prevention, this was something that Dr. Lyons really championed and maintained his enthusiasm for throughout the entire project.

Tom:              On another subject, you've noted that what we eat today can affect our cognition in the future. There is recent research that demonstrates that people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet enjoy a high level of protection against age-related cognitive decline. What components of this diet contribute to these benefits?

Gregory:         That is the million-dollar question when it comes to diet in humans. We know that composite diets like the Mediterranean diet, and the modified version that's become quite popular — the MIND diet — are certainly associated with better brain health outcomes. Unfortunately, we're currently lacking data on which of the components are most beneficial in that regard. Is it a potential combination of components where we need certain ingredients or certain food types to promote brain health, and the others are simply things that are carried along? I think that looking at the individual nutrients — much the way that we're doing with studies of AT-001, studies of omega-3 fatty acids and of other nutritional compounds —is someday going to unlock that mystery. We may find the ideal diet, where each of the components is based on science rather than our current coarse understanding of dietary needs for brain health.

Tom:              What additional lifestyle changes, cognitive exercises or dietary supplements might be of further use in preserving brain health and cognitive ability as we age?

Gregory:         I think that there are several areas of our lifestyles that do need to be modified for brain health, the first of which is cognitive exercise. I hear frequently from folks as they age that they can't wait to retire and do absolutely nothing. That may be great for relaxation, but that is the worst thing in the world for your brain. We know that if you don't use it, you will lose it.

                        Recently, the National Academy of Sciences had an advisory panel looking at brain health and prevention, and their number one recommendation was cognitive activity. That was followed by management of medical issues such as blood pressure control throughout middle age and later years.

                       We know that negative impacts on the body are also reflected through negative impacts on the brain. If you're not seeing a doctor and have those medical problems, get out there and get those problems addressed.

                      The third is physical activity. We're not talking about devoting your entire life to becoming a gymnast or a heavyweight champion; what we're really talking about here is a simple 30 minutes, three days a week, of high-intensity exercise. It reduces your risk for a disease like Alzheimer's to almost one-third. That's a 300 percent improvement in your brain health through that single activity.

                      What we don’t yet understand is the impact of combining all those things. Perhaps if each one lowers it by a third, and we're looking at a third of a third of a third, we may be to a point where there is a 90 percent plus chance of eliminating the future threat of Alzheimer's for an individual person who's maintaining that healthy lifestyle.

Tom:              Are there any emerging technologies or innovations that excite you that you're keeping your eye on?

Gregory:         There are a number of exciting technological innovations. Many of these are in the area of genetics. Genetics have helped us unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease, and more importantly, they're helping us unlock the secrets to brain health and the individual cellular pathways that are important for us to target through interventions, nutritional supplements and medications.

                      One always thinks about genetic discoveries as being something that we're simply left with — that you're “stuck” with genes and if you have that risk, there is nothing you can do about it. But I think what we've learned from precision medicine in cancer is that understanding your genetic risks can help us to develop a personalized prevention program for Alzheimer's disease — a personalized program for your individual brain health.

Tom:              Dr. Jicha, what would you say you enjoy the most about the work that you do?

Gregory:         That is an incredibly difficult question. I am a physician, and I directly care for patients one-on-one throughout most of my day, whether that's in the context of research or in straightforward clinical care, and that's incredibly rewarding. But on the other hand, the ability to help move innovative ideas forward, to be at the forefront of our search for cures for a disease as devastating as Alzheimer's disease, is incredibly intellectually rewarding. That combination is something I simply wouldn’t trade in for anything.

Tom:              Dr. Gregory Jicha, chief clinician and professor at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center. Thank you so much for your time.

Gregory:         Thank you for having me.

Dr. Gregory Jicha spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference(ONE18). Click the button below to see presentations from ONE18: 

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.”

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.”

Amidst his days of sketching ideas for bicycles, parachutes, tanks and submarines, Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance genius, ran into obstacles. Nevertheless, da Vinci was well-known for keeping a notebook of his ideas and thoughts, scribbled randomly in the pages. Among these pages lived an affirmation da Vinci repeated during times of innovative struggles: “Obstacles do not bend me.”

Over 500 years later, Dr. Mark Lyons, president of Alltech, took the stage at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. In front of nearly 4,000 people, he told the audience about another genius who was known for documenting all his thoughts in a notebook. Dr. Pearse Lyons, Mark’s late father and founder of Alltech, was a champion of sustainability, brewing, nutrition and innovation. He, too, had an affirmation for when struggles arose: “We will bend reality.”

“If you think it, ink it!” Mark told the crowd. Yet documenting ideas in a notebook isn’t the only similarity that da Vinci and Dr. Lyons shared. According to the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael Gelb, there are seven steps to becoming a genius like da Vinci. Mark explored the seven different ways his father compared to the visionary:

1. Curiosity: Da Vinci was eager to ask “what if” questions: What if humans could fly like birds? What if art could transform the world? Dr. Lyons was known for questioning the status quo, too. Those who knew him were aware of his hard-hitting questions: What if we could reduce animal pollution? What if we could feed animals more naturally? What if we could connect farmers with technology?

2. Demonstration: The ability to learn from his mistakes was an admirable trait of da Vinci’s. Part of innovation, part of building an empire, is testing knowledge through experience.

“He didn’t believe he was any better than anyone else,” said Mark of his father. “He didn’t believe he was completely unique. He was humble.”

3. Sensation: In an age when technology lives at our finger tips, what would da Vinci, a supporter of using all five senses, think about people glued to their phones? Dr. Lyons invested much time and effort into his two homelands, Kentucky and Ireland, by hosting worldwide events and building beautiful distilleries. This commitment to his communities helps encourage people to get off their phones and into the world.

4. Smoke: A willingness to embrace uncertainty. Da Vinci, a genius, recognized that there were still topics unknown to him. However, the excitement to learn something new is an important step on the road to genius. Dr. Lyons was known for cultivating a spirit of curiosity within himself and within others by funding graduate programs, conferences and language classes for his employees.

“Learning never exhausts the mind,” da Vinci once said.

5. Art/science: Often, people describe themselves as “right-brained” or “left-brained” — art-driven or science-driven. However, to achieve the genius of da Vinci, it’s important to find a balance between the two. Da Vinci was an artist, yes, but he was also an engineer, a botanist and an inventor. Dr. Lyons was a scientist who was gifted in fermentation, but he also was a man with a highly developed palate and a creative mind that crafted award-winning beer. The key is balance.

6. The body: “Your mind follows your physical state,” da Vinci said.

Da Vinci and Dr. Lyons were firm believers that an alert body leads to an alert mind, which is why Dr. Lyons went running each morning and even hosted runs at Alltech’s annual international conference. He clearly recognized the importance of happy, healthy employees.

7. Connection: Da Vinci connected to the world, to his environment, to his art. However, Mark emphasized that Dr. Lyons was more interested in connecting with people.

“He constantly wanted to connect and bring people together,” explained Mark.

The similarities between Leonardo da Vinci and Dr. Pearse Lyons are striking. However, there is an overall theme between the two men: a sense of purpose. For da Vinci, a purpose to create. For Dr. Lyons, a purpose to sustain the world.

“Today, people will work for purposeful companies and purposeful institutions,” said Mark. “And if you don’t have a purpose, they won’t work for you at all.”

Ultimately, these two geniuses have set the standard high. Perhaps not everyone can be a da Vinci or a Dr. Lyons, but these steps can lead us to find our own ONE big idea.

“We cannot replace Dr. Lyons, nobody can,” Mark told the crowd. “But if we start to think like him, if we can get 10 people, 100 people, 1,000 people thinking like him, imagine what we can achieve together.”

Opening day of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference celebrates the transformative power of ideas and a man who revolutionized the ag industry, Dr. Pearse Lyons

[LEXINGTON, Ky.] – 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.

Bill Northey, under secretary at the United States Department of Agriculture, explored how government can do its part to help American agriculture adapt to a rapidly changing industry and feed the world. One critical component, he said, is for the USDA and farmers to be partners in innovation.

“We must understand our customers,” he said. “We must meet them where they are, with what they need, how they need it. Over time, customer needs change. We have to adapt.”

He also emphasized staying relevant by utilizing the latest technology, including social media, and asking important questions about regulations.

“We intend to listen, we intend to change in a way that supports you all,” said Northey.

Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou, CRISPR expert and professor at North Carolina State University, discussed the potential for the controversial gene-editing technology to revolutionize food production and agriculture.

“In my opinion, CRISPR might be the one technology that is disruptive, innovative, transformative enough to change and define the genesis of the next generation of products across the food and ag industry,” said Barrangou.

Not only is this technology changing his life as a research scientist, he said, but also as a patient and a parent. This “molecular scalpel that cuts DNA” has the potential to edit, alter and rewrite DNA with unprecedented ease and accessibility to create new gene therapies, synthetic organs and natural vaccines. It even has the potential to create programmable antibiotics that selectively kill agents responsible for disease, such as Salmonella.

“Scientifically, the CRISPR phase is unprecedented,” he said. “We went from nothing, to a paper a month, to a paper a week, to a paper a day, to an average of 10 new CRISPR studies published every day in 2018.”

Despite the recent fervor about CRISPR in the media, however, he said that with this new power comes great responsibility, and stewardship in the agriculture world is critical. He believes the real revolution is happening in the boardrooms of companies that are harnessing this technology.

“This big idea is becoming a reality,” he said. “And this big idea is going to save the planet.”

Dr. Majid Fotuhi, neurologist and neuroscientist, shared his incredible story of growing up as a young man with a thirst for knowledge. An expert in the field of memory, Alzheimer’s disease, concussion, ADHD and increasing brain vitality in later life, he detailed how his journey to Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University has empowered him to teach others how to take better care of their brains.

“You are in control,” he said. “You need to take responsibility for whether or not your brain is healthy.”

In particular, he said having a purpose-driven life and feeling passionate about your goals can lead to a healthier brain.

“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.”

Dr. Mark Lyons, president of Alltech, took the conversation a step further, reflecting on the value of an idea and its potential to impact the future of our businesses, lives and even the planet. To achieve such innovative change, he said, it takes leaders with the ability to see what others cannot, something both Leonardo da Vinci and Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech’s late founder, had in common.

“He and Dad ‘happened to things,’ as Dad put it,” he said. “And that thing was called ‘life.’ Sometimes life happens to us. These two individuals seemed to impact life as much as it impacted them.”

That is why, for the first time in the conference’s history, Alltech bestowed a double award recognizing Alltech’s founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons.

“He was constantly encouraging us to be the best we could be for those around us so that they could flourish and become the best they could be,” said Mark, reflecting on Dr. Lyons’ goal that Alltech should be built on passion, excellence and fun. “He wanted them to live with those values he had, and that excellence, something that he and my mother shared — maybe she even more so.”

The Alltech Medal of Excellence, Alltech’s highest distinction, was awarded to Dr. Lyons for his work as a visionary scientist. As an entrepreneur and a tireless innovator, Dr. Lyons utilized his scientific expertise in yeast fermentation and his acute business sense to revolutionize the animal feed industry through the introduction of natural ingredients to animal feed. In the past 10 years alone, his scientific achievements have been listed in more than 300 patents.

Additionally, he was recognized with the Alltech Humanitarian Award for having a boundless philanthropic spirit. The award is bestowed annually to someone of strong character who uses their platform to positively influence and inspire those around them. For Dr. Lyons and Mrs. Deirdre Lyons, making a difference in the world by empowering others has been an everyday reality of their personal and professional lives.

“We cannot replace Dr. Pearse Lyons, nobody can,” said Mark. “But if we start to think like him, if we can get 10 people, 100 people, 1,000 people thinking like him, imagine what we can achieve together.”

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference runs through May 22, 2018, and is welcoming nearly 4,000 attendees from 76 countries in its 34th year. To learn more about ONE18 and follow live updates, visit one.alltech.com.

First time a Kentucky brewery takes home the overall grand prize for its beer Dark Charge Barrel Aged Molé

[LEXINGTON, Ky.] — Over 5,000 craft beer aficionados attended the fifth annual Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fest on May 19, 2018, at the Lexington Convention Center. The festival featured over 60 breweries from across the country as well as food from local vendors and some of the best chefs in the state of Kentucky.

More than 50 breweries from four countries submitted 325 unique beers, which were judged by an expert panel of judges based on Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines. At the end of the day, and the bottom of the glass, the Commonwealth Cup was awarded to Barrel Aged Molé brewed by Braxton Brewing Company from Covington, Kentucky.

The Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fest was started five years ago by the late founder of Alltech, Dr. Pearse Lyons, to celebrate craft beer, something about which he was particularly passionate. In fact, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale® from Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co., which Dr. Lyons founded in 1999, is regarded as one of the forerunners of the bourbon-barrel aging trend in craft beer.

“Dr. Lyons was always a champion of craft brewing, long before it came into the mainstream,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president of Alltech, toasting the memory of his father.“

He was passionate about developing the craft brewing and distilling market in Kentucky, training a generation of brewers and distillers and investing in events like today’s festival that give us a little taste of what he loved.”

The Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fest marked the beginning of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18), held May 20–22 in Lexington, Kentucky. The event includes a breakout session on brewing and distilling. For more information, visit one.alltech.com.

Follow Kentucky Ale® on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter (@KentuckyAle) for updates as well as information on the Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fest. For more information about Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co., visit www.kentuckyale.com.

WHAT: An idea, even in its root meaning, is “to see.” Da Vinci, Einstein, Edison, the Wright brothers, Tesla, Bell, Borlaug and Fleming — they had the ability to see what others could not. Because they opened their eyes to possibilities and thrived in pursuit of them, we have light. We have abundant food. We can even fly. Ideas change everything.

The transformative power of ideas will be the focus of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018. Join us to explore how ideas can germinate into innovations that change the course of our businesses and lives.

WHEN: May 20–23, 2018

WHERE: Lexington Convention Center

Lexington, Kentucky, USA

one.alltech.com

MORE: Register before Nov. 1 to save $600. Details on sessions and speakers will be available in early 2018. To view last year’s presentations, visit ideas.alltech.com, where access is free after sign-up.

[LEXINGTON, Ky.] – From green pastures and blue skies to rolling hills and vast prairies, from new-born calves to hardworking farm dogs, life in agriculture can be a thing of breathtakingly beauty, rich in picturesque moments rarely experienced by an increasingly urban population. Alltech wants to celebrate these moments in farm life and is calling all American farmers, ranchers and producers to submit and share their farm photos for the opportunity to win one of three trips to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18) held in Lexington, Kentucky, May 20–23, 2018.

Photos must be submitted online by Nov. 6, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. EST. They will be judged by an external panel, which will select the top photos as finalists, and those photos will be published on Alltech’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/AlltechNaturally).

Voting will open to the public on Nov. 6 at 3:00 p.m. EST and will close on Nov. 10 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Use the hashtag #PicMeONE18Contest to find the photos, or visit the Facebook album to vote. The two photos with the highest number of Facebook likes, and the one photo that receives the most points (see the contest rules for details), will determine the three winners.

Winners and a guest will receive free registration to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference and $2,000 for travel expenses. To enter a photo and read the full contest details, including the rules and regulations, visit https://go.alltech.com/picmeone18contest/usa.

Registration is now open for ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, held in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, from May 20–23, 2018. The annual international conference draws 4,000 attendees from nearly 80 countries to network and discuss world-changing ideas. For more information or to register, visit one.alltech.com. Join the conversation online with #ONE18.

WHAT: Imagine using precision nutrition to meet the needs of individual animals. Imagine meeting the expectations of the new consumer, “the prosumer.” Imagine the farm of the future.

How will technologies help to achieve greater transparency and safety?

This is a new age in agriculture in which nutrigenomics and big data play an everyday role in revolutionizing the way food is produced.

Join moderator, Peabody Award-winning journalist Tom Martin, for a live webinar discussing the future of agriculture and technology with a panel of agribusiness experts that includes:

- Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate accounts at Alltech.

- Mary Shelman, former director of Harvard Business School’s Agribusiness Program.

- Professor Michael Boehlje, distinguished professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics

and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business at Purdue University.

- Dr. Karl Dawson, chief scientific officer at Alltech.

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 25 2017

9:00 a.m. ET

WHERE: Reserve a spot now via this link. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you can register via the link to receive the recording.

OTHER: Media only: Email your questions for the panelists in advance of the webinar to press@alltech.com.

Farming the Future will also broadcast on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/AlltechNaturally/.

Follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #FarmingTheFuture.